Send Me On my Way
by Super Chocolate Bear
Summary: Under the insistence of Superman, Shayera and Flash go on vacation. Sounds easy, right? Wrong.
1. Playing the Game

Disclaimer: I don't own _Justice League Unlimited_

_**Send Me on My Way**_

**_Chapter One: Playing the Game_**

She didn't like the colour scheme of the Metro Tower rumpus room. It was official, as of this moment. Shayera wasn't sure why she didn't like the colour scheme, but she knew for certain that she really, _really _didn't like it.

Maybe it was the clashing colours.

Maybe it was the pattern (or lack thereof).

Or maybe it was the fact that Wally West, the superspeed empowered hero known as The Flash, was continuingly and consistently beating her. Earlier that day, the speedster had had no idea how to play Chess. Now he was better than her.

She shook her head.

She was just distracted, that was all. That was the only explanation. That was, unless…

Well, the only other explanation was that Wally was better than her at Chess.

Shayera paused for a moment to think about that.

It was definitely the 'distracted' thing.

"Your move."

The winged heroine looked up at her opponent. "Sorry, what?"

"Your move," he said, gesturing to the Chessboard.

Shayera looked down at the board incredulously, and then looked back up at the masked speedster.

"You're not playing it right."

"What?"

"The game. You're supposed to think about every move before making it. Think about what your opponent could do, and about what you would do to counter that move, and so on."

"Yeah, I did that."

"No you didn't."

"I so did!"

"No, you didn't. That was what, a few seconds?"

Flash shrugged. "About a minute." He pointed to his head. "There's a fast mind in here," he said, smiling in his usual Flash way.

"Quick as a Flash, right?"

"Just about."

Shayera sighed. "Okay, all right…" She concentrated on the board in front of her, contemplating her next move.

Flash frowned and cocked her head. "You okay?"

Shayera reached forward to move her knight forward, but then thought better of it. "Fine. Why?"

"I dunno. You just seem… off, I guess."

"'Off'?"

"Yeah, off. Like… not quite… there."

"Well… I'm fine."

Flash cocked an eyebrow. "Sure?"

Shayera sighed and looked up at her friend. "Yes, I'm sure. Now could we just… get back to the game?"

The Scarlet Speedster put his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, sorry… you're right, carry on."

Shayera looked back down at the board, her gaze lingering on Wally cautiously before returning her attention to the game.

"It's just that-"

She whipped her head back up. "What?"

"Well… 'fine' is usually what someone says when they're not really fine and they just want the other person to back off…"

Shayera cocked an impatient eyebrow. Flash looked down, unable to meet her penetrating gaze.

"At least… that's what I think…" he said, suddenly enraptured with picking off a piece of lint on his shoulder.

Shayera smiled. "I'm fine."

"All right…"

Her gaze once again lingered on the speedster before she went back to the game. Slowly and cautiously, she picked up her knight.

"Ah-ah."

Shayera's head whipped up to look at Flash. "What?"

"Oh. Nothing, nothing. I just… wouldn't make that move, is all."

"Well, thank you, but I'll move wherever the hell I want, thank you."

"Okay, okay," he said, badly hiding a smirk as he put his hands up defensively. "Please. Go on."

Shayera moved the knight forward, and then sighed. She put the knight back where it was. Then, arching an eyebrow, she looked up at her opponent, considering his expression.

_Let's see… he tried to get me to not make the move, which means he's afraid. _

She reached down the pick up the knight.

_Then again…_

She paused.

_He could have known that I'd think that and done a double bluff. But still… he could have anticipated my anticipating his…_

Wally picked up the paper bag of popcorn next to his stool, ate the entire bag, and belched loudly, patting his belly proudly. He grinned as goofily as humanly possible.

Shayera sighed, shaking her head.

_Oh yeah, he's playing mind games._

She moved the knight forward and to the left. She looked up at Flash, whose grin had taken on a predatory menace.

He sighed melodramatically. "I told you not to make that move." He moved his rook one space forward. "Checkmate," he said, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head.

Shayera looked down in horror. "How did you-? I mean… that's…"

"I know, I know…" Flash said, still grinning.

"Oh, go ahead, laugh it up. Lean back and relax."

"Thank you, I think I will."

The speedster leaned back on his stool, forgetting that it wasn't a chair, and immediately tumbled to the floor, rolling head over heels before scrambling to his feet.

"I meant to do that. You can't prove I didn't."

Shayera, meanwhile, wasn't even listening. She was laughing too hard.

The speedster frowned. "Yeah, well… you're stupid!"

"I'm not the one who… who…" she burst out laughing again.

Flash scowled. "Whatever! I'm gonna… go do something else now!"

And with a red blur, Wally was gone.

Shayera was still laughing when Superman entered the room, perplexed at her good humour. She quickly regained her composure as she saw his amused expression.

"I take it Flash didn't take too well to chess."

"Oh, no, he beat me."

The Man of Steel cocked a curious eyebrow. "And you're laughing?"

"…yeah. Isn't it great?"

Superman didn't know quite how to respond to that, so he just gestured down to the table. "You want to play again?"

Shayera sighed, shaking her head. "No thanks. I've been concentrating on this game all day…"

She almost wanted to cry when she saw the crestfallen look on Superman's face.

"But, you know, I could do with a game of something a little less… taxing."

Clark looked up at the ceiling as he thought to himself. "…Go Fish?"

"What's that?"

"You've never played Go Fish?"

"No. Why?"

"And yet you've played poker."

"Well… yeah."

"You haven't even played Go Fish with Batman?"

"Batman plays a game called Go Fish? I would have thought that would be Aquaman's game."

Shayera buried her face in her hand, and Superman smiled.

"Oh, Yom Shigureth… I've been spending way too much time with Wally."

"Yes you have. But that's not necessarily a bad thing."

She looked up at him. "It's not?"

A smile spread across his face. "Shall we discuss this over Go Fish?"

"Sure."

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"So… I have to get the same number in every suit?"

"Or a set of numbers in the right order."

"Okay."

Superman cocked an eyebrow. "Are you sure you've got it?"

"We'll find out, won't we?"

"Okay. Have you got any twos?"

"Can I lie?"

"No."

"Oh. Then yes."

Shayera handed over her two and Clark smiled in a mischievous way that Shayera didn't see very often in the Man of Steel.

"So… you were saying about my hanging around with Wally being a good thing?"

"Well, you _do _seem more relaxed."

"I do?"

Clark nodded. "Yeah. Let's take an example. When Volcana scorched your wing last week, you would have been scowling for about a month about how you let your guard down in the old days. This time, Wally had you laughing at… what was it?"

Shayera smiled. "A hand puppet."

Superman nodded, only now comprehending. "Oh, is _that_ what it was?"

She shrugged. "It was a very funny hand puppet."

"Who was it?"

"Promise you won't tell?"

"Of course not. Have you got any Jacks?"

"Go Fish. It was Batman."

Clark picked up a card, smiling the entire time. "Why am I not surprised…?"

Shayera smiled at the memory. "I don't know. I suppose he does help me relax now and then. He still drives me crazy at times."

"He drives everyone crazy. Your turn."

"Oh, right. Um… have you got any… sevens?"

"Yes," Clark grumbled, begrudgingly handing over three sevens.

Shayera smiled. "I'm liking this game."

"I thought you might."

"Have you got any nines?"

"…Yes…"

He handed them over.

"Anyway… I was thinking that you might want to take a little vacation."

Shayera blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Well… it's been a stressful year or so for you… for everyone, really, and-"

She sighed. "Is this about Hawkman? _Again?"_

"No, it's not."

There was a silence as she took in the sincerity of Superman's last statement. "It's not?"

"No. I've been trying to get all of the original seven to take a break at regular intervals, and it just happens to be your turn."

"It… does?"

"Yes. Your vacation time's about to run out." He nodded at her cards. "It's still your turn."

Shayera shook her head and got back to her cards. "Oh, right. Have you, uh, got any Aces?"

"Go Fish."

She picked up a card. "I suppose I could take a break… I _have _been feeling stuck in a rut lately."

"And…"

Shayera looked up at Superman, who was now focusing solely on his cards.

"I was thinking that… maybe… you could…" he trailed off, mumbling the last part of the sentence incoherently.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"…take Flash with you."

Shayera was speechless. But only for a moment.

"Let me get this straight. You want me to go on vacation… to get _away _from Justice League business… and you want me to take Flash _with me?"_

"Well… yes."

"Why?"

"Honestly?"

Shayera nodded.

"His birthday's coming up, and we've got a surprise party for him. But you know what he's like when it comes to this kind of thing. He keeps on poking his nose around at superspeed until he ruins the surprise for himself."

"Wait…"

Superman winced.

"It isn't my turn for a break at all, is it?"

Superman shook his head.

"There was never any vacation roster, was there?"

Superman shook his head.

"You're just using me to get rid of the Flash, aren't you?"

Superman nodded. "Will you do it?"

Shayera sighed. "Let me think about it."

He grinned. "Great. You got any fours?"

She handed over her three fours. Superman smiled and put down his hand.

"And that's how you play."

Shayera thinned her eyes at the Man of Steel. "Oh, yeah, laugh it up. Just lean back and relax. I'll call you if I decide to do it."

"Okay."

She stood up and made her way out as she saw Superman lean back on the stool with his arms crossed, gloating.

She left the room, and there was a crash.

And a string of words that a Boy Scout would certainly not approve of.

And Shayera laughed.

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Flash threw the yellow ball into the air from where he lay on his hammock, bouncing it off the ceiling of his room. Since he didn't live in his room at the Metro Tower, he mostly used it for storage, like his games consoles, comic books, and of course, the hammock he had bought on a drunken whim whilst vacationing with Dick and Roy.

It seemed like a worthwhile investment at the time, and still did, in some cases. Such as now, for instance. His bed (which he never used for sleeping anyway) had become swamped with various objects, so he had taken to relaxing in the hammock during his more quiet moments, which he had strung across the far right corner of the room.

"I think it's a great idea," he said, bouncing the yellow ball against the ceiling yet again.

Shayera followed the yellow ball with her eyes as she spoke. "I don't know… I don't want to go on vacation _just _because it's my turn…"

"Why not? Look, you've done just as much for the League as anyone else. Why shouldn't you get a vacation?"

"I guess."

"No, not 'you guess', just 'yes'. You deserve this, Shayera, trust me."

Shayera shrugged. "I just think- GAH!" She twisted her waist slightly to lift her rear-end from the bed, where it had come into contact with something rather sharp. Looking down, she saw a Martian Manhunter action figure.

She cocked an eyebrow as she showed it to Wally.

"Oh, that," he said, smiling. He tossed the ball into the air once again, allowing it to thunk against the ceiling before continuing. "I had to fight tooth and nail to get that. It's kinda weird how J'onn is the most sought after action figure, don't you think? Since he hardly ever appears in public at all?"

"Does he know you have this?"

"Well, he does read minds, so… I dunno."

"Why do you have it?"

"Oh, come on! It's a J'onn J'onnz action figure! I saw it in the department store in Central City, and I just thought 'hell, it's a J'onn J'onnz action figure'. There wasn't really much thought involved."

Shayera looked down at the plastic toy inquisitively. The miniature J'onn stared blankly back up at her.

"Hey," Wally said, grinning. "Push the button on the back."

She considered the speedster suspiciously, thinning her eyes. "Why? What's it going to do?"

"Would you just trust me and push the button?"

She pushed the button.

"_Halt! Intruder!"_

Shayera looked up at Wally incredulously.

His grin widened. "I don't know about you, but J'onn says that to me all the time."

She looked down at the action figure. "Makes me wonder what mine says…"

"Oh, yours just yells."

Horror crossed her features. "You didn't."

"Oh, no, I just saw it in the store."

She smirked. "What does yours say?"

The Scarlet Speedster's grin disappeared, and he returned to bouncing the ball off the ceiling. "Nothing…"

"Oh, no. Yours definitely says _something_."

"It's nothing. It… doesn't say anything."

"Right."

Silence descended between them as Shayera continued to stare at Flash. The only noise in the room was Wally bouncing the ball off the roof.

Thunk.

Thunk.

Thunk.

Wally sniffed and scratched his nose in-between throws of the ball. He glanced over at Shayera out of the corner of his eye. She was still staring at him, eyebrow cocked.

Thunk.

Still staring.

Thunk.

_Still _staring.

Thunk.

Why won't she just stop?

Thunk.

"This isn't gonna work, y'know."

Thunk.

"It doesn't say anything."

Thunk.

"It doesn't."

Thunk.

Still staring.

Thunk.

"It doesn't!"

Thunk.

Wally leapt from the hammock, landing on his feet in front of Shayera. "Fine." He went over to the closet and rummaged around the bottom shelf for what seemed an eternity.

"_Up, up, and away!"_

"_I. Am. Batman!"_

"_Great Hera!"_

"_Zip!"_

Shayera cocked an eyebrow. Zip? Who says 'Zip'?

Flash froze.

The large grin that had once been on Flash's face now adorned Shayera's.

"'Zip'? Your action figure says 'Zip'?"

"Yeah, well… I go fast… I kinda make a zipping sound…"

Shayera laughed, although she tried her best to cover it up.

"It's not my fault I don't have a catchphrase."

"I know, it's just… 'zip'…"

"Yeah, well… whatever."

Flash shot over to the hammock and searched for his ball, which had landed next to Shayera.

"Hey, Zippo."

Wally gave her a look as he caught the ball. He tossed it back to her.

"So… moving on… are you gonna do it?"

Shayera tossed the ball back. "I don't know. Do you think I should?"

Flash caught the ball. "Oh yeah. Beaches, swimming pools, five star hotels… go nuts." He paused before throwing the ball back. "The League's paying for it, right?"

"Yeah."

He shrugged and tossed back the ball. "Okay then, go nuts."

"Do you, uh…" she caught the ball. "Do you want to come too?"

Wally paused. "Heh?"

"Do you want to come too? As in… on vacation."

"Uh… I… dunno what to say…" He grinned. "I mean, sure, yeah! That'll be awesome!"

Shayera smiled. "Okay." She paused. "Um… what do we do… first? I'm sort of new at this."

"Right, right, sure. Well, first of all, we've gotta decide where to go. Then we've gotta pick the right stuff to bring with us, book a flight, hotel…Ooo! Ooo! Make sure it has a swimming pool, too… and a sauna…"

Shayera sighed as Wally continued to rattle on. She was beginning to think that this _might _not be a good idea.

"…and it's _gotta _have a breakfast bar," Wally said, grinning at the possibilities.

She looked at her friend.

_Definitely not a good idea._

_Stupid Superman._

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(A/N: I was going to wait until I'd finished 'Gut Feeling' before putting this up, but I just liked it so much that I couldn't resist.

I thought that after the heavier, more serious stories, I could stand to do a light hearted piece. Also, we've been getting brief spurts of scorching (for our standards) sunny days over in the UK, and I guess that just inspired me. Also, the mental image of Wally in a Hawaiian shirt, shorts, sandals and tacky sunglasses is waaaay too funny to ignore. All the while thinking he looks like a real treat for the ladies, of course.

This'll be updated at a much more leisurely pace than my other stories usually are. While pace is an important factor on some of the more dramatic stories, this is more of a relaxed affair, so I'm going to treat it like one.

Anyway, review!)


	2. Preparations

Disclaimer: I don't own _Justice League Unlimited._

_**Send Me on My Way**_

_**Chapter Two: Preparations**_

Wally poked his head out from behind the sunglasses rack, the pink frame of his sunglasses peppered with glitter.

"What do you think?" he asked, grinning.

Shayera looked up at him idly from her magazine. "I think you look like an idiot," she said, before going back to the fine piece of literature before her. Although what she was reading, she had no clue. She was just looking for some excuse to ignore her hyperactive friend, and to blend in, which was a rare occurrence for her.

Thanks to Zatanna's handy skills, Shayera's wings were now invisible, and her hair a lighter shade of brown. Hell, she had even got some interested looks from men as she walked down the street with Wally. That was something she had missed, though she would never admit it.

Wally sighed. "Ah, c'mon… you're not getting into the spirit of things. You're supposed to be having fun! The holiday hasn't even started and you're scowling."

"I am _not _scowling," she warned, bringing the magazine down quickly as she glared at him. It was only then that she really took in what Wally was wearing on his face. She smiled. "Yom Shigureth," she chuckled, "you really _do _look like an idiot…"

"No. I look classy."

"They're pink."

"Pink's in at the moment."

Shayera cocked an eyebrow. "For men?"

"Yes, for men."

"Have you got any pink clothes?"

"I may have one or two items," he replied, checking his reflection in the mirror on the sunglasses rack. "I dunno…" he said, considering himself. "I think I might look like a cheap date." He looked over at her, putting on a pouty expression. "What do you think? How much trouble would you go to for a guy wearing these?"

"A bucket of buffalo wings."

Flash mock gasped. "I am insulted. Back you go," he said, putting the sunglasses back on the rack. "Ooo. Now here we _go…"_

Shayera looked at the sunglasses he brought up. "You're kidding."

"Hey, I could pull off the 'Will Smith from Men in Black' look."

"Right."

"Hey! You should have seen me at my Uncle Barry's wedding. I looked pretty damn dashing in my tuxedo."

"You've worn a tuxedo? Without ruining it?"

"Now I didn't say _that_," he said, winking at her as he tried on a different pair of glasses. "You sure you don't want to try some on? It can get pretty sunny."

"Where're we going, anyway?"

Wally shrugged. "I dunno. I've thought about it, but I can't really think of anything good enough. Meh. I'll think of something."

"Wait. Isn't this supposed to be _my _vacation?"

"Yes, but you asked me for help because you, by your own admission, have no idea what you're doing."

Shayera paused.

"I-"

Wally perked up his eyebrows in a smug 'well?' expression.

She sighed. "All right… but if you're done preening, can we go somewhere else now?"

"Fine, fine."

He picked up the pink glasses as well the small, thin and sleek ones. Shayera shook her head as she followed Wally to the counter and slapped the magazine back on its rack.

"Wally. Please. Do _not _buy those. I'm begging you."

"Why not? They're pink, they're pretty… what more could a girl ask for?"

"Look, it's- wait… _girl?"_

"Well, yeah. You didn't think that _I_ was gonna wear them, did you?"

The Thanagarian growled, and the teenager behind the checkout looked at her in alarm. He glanced over at Wally.

"Dude, stop now. Just let your girlfriend buy what she wants."

The two looked at him, equally horrified looks on their faces. "Oh, we're not-" they said simultaneously, pointing at each other.

They looked over at one another. "He thinks we're-" they said, once again in unison. Laughter quickly ensued, and continued as Wally paid for the glasses and the two left the shop, leaving one very confused shopping assistant.

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John squirmed uncomfortably in his bed. His ass was beginning to ache. Not a painful ache, but more the kind of ache that really starts to grate one after awhile. The kind that creeps up the lower back until one really, _really _wants to stand up, or at least lie on the ground to straighten it out.

He sighed as fond memories of his Marine days came flooding back to him.

Funny the things one would think about when they were stuck looking at blank white ceiling tiles. The door to the med bay slid open, and Wally sidled through, a pizza box in one hand and two cans in the other.

"Please tell me those drinks have alcohol in them."

The speedster grinned. "Sorry dude; Doctor's orders. You get coke," he said, tossing over the can. "And cherry coke, at that."

John's favourite, though few knew it. Even Mari didn't know about it. It seemed mysterious to John that Wally would know this, considering the ex-Marine didn't recall telling him. It was just one of those things that had gone over his head.

"So," the Flash said, putting the pizza and the coke onto the desk beside John's bed. "What's new?"

"That isn't funny. At all."

"Sorry, sorry," Wally replied, moving over to the observation window. He pushed one of the buttons beside it, and the glass changed molecular cohesiveness, becoming a blank slate. It was mostly used by those wanting privacy, but Wally just wanted to take off his Flash cowl while he ate with his friend. The speedster zoomed back over to the chair beside John's bed and flopped into it, snapping open his can of coke and handing over the pizza box so fast the Lantern almost missed it.

"I would've thought you'd learnt to like it by now."

John paused to look at Wally. "What's there to like?"

The speedster looked around the room, and John patiently waited for an answer as he munched away on a slice of pizza.

Wally turned back to John. "Touché."

The two ate in silence.

"I hear you and Shayera are going on vacation."

"Yup."

"Do you know where you're going?"

"Nope."

"So… you're going on vacation, but you don't know where?"

Wally put on a mock serious face. "Or when. I'm very concerned." He considered John's expression for a moment. Not quite displeased, but certainly not happy either. "Why? Is there a problem with that?"

"What? No, I'm used to the way you organise yourself by now-"

"No, I mean… about me and Shayera going together."

"No, no problem." John cocked an eyebrow. "Why? Should I be worried?"

The redhead frowned. "'Course not, dude. Just, y'know… I wouldn't go if you… weren't okay with it."

The Lantern shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be okay with it? Two of my friends going on a break together… it's fine Wally, really."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"…okay then."

"Okay."

Silence descended upon them as they ate their way through the pizza, Wally predictably eating half of it before John had even picked up his third slice.

"You hear the rumours yet?"

John looked over at him. "Is she dating someone else now?"

"I-" Wally smiled. "No, it's nothing to do with Shayera."

"I, uh…" he picked up another slice of pizza. "I wasn't talking about Shayera," he said, his voice taking on a defensive tone he instantly regretted.

"Oh yeah. Uh huh. You weren't. Right."

The Lantern gave him a warning glare. "Wally…"

"So anyway, there're rumours flying about that the other guys are gonna bring in replacements for us while we're away."

"Like who?"

Wally shrugged. "I dunno. I asked Supes about it, and he just said 'wait until the next meeting'."

"And when's that?"

"This is me you're talking to, dude. Either you or Shayera have to call me to remind me of meetings half the time. The other half I just forget to show up or I'm busy."

John nodded. "Right, right…"

The speedster's communicator beeped. He pulled on his cowl and put two greasy digits to the earpiece. "Flash here," he said, still eating a slice of pizza.

"_We're having a meeting."_

Wally stood. "Huh? We are?"

He could practically hear Shayera's shrug on the other end. _"Don't ask me; Superman just said it was impromptu for a reason, and to get over to the meeting room."_

"Okay," Flash sighed. "Save me my seat, okay?"

"_I don't think anyone could miss your chair, Wally. You've painted your logo on it."_

"Yeah… that _is _cool…" He shook his head from his fond reverie. "Anyway, I'll see you there."

"_Right."_

Shayera terminated the connection, and Wally looked over at John. "Sorry dude. Duty calls."

"I wish it did."

Flash frowned. "How long have you got left in rehab?"

"The Doctor's say it should take about another week or so before I'm on my feet again." He let out a heavy sigh. "And even longer before I'm in the field..."

"…sorry."

"It's not your fault, Wally. It's just getting me antsy, looking at the same four walls all day, every day."

"Yeah, well… it just seems right to say sorry. For… y'know, everything."

John was about to protest, but he saw that Wally was going to blame himself no matter what he said. "Thanks," he said, smiling and nodding. "Now go on. I can finish up here."

Wally smiled back and gave a small salute. "See ya," he said, before opening the door and zipping away.

After waiting for the door to slide shut, John got back to his pizza and cherry coke.

His ass wasn't aching half as much anymore.

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"So what's the problem?" Flash asked, leaning forward and resting his head on his hand.

Clark smiled in his understanding 'Superman' way. "Sorry for the short notice, but we had to discuss this before you left."

"Discuss what?" Shayera asked, looking around the table.

"Your replacements while you're away," J'onn said matter-of-factly.

Wally slapped his hand down on the table, grinning. "I knew it! Who's it gonna be? Aquaman? Captain Atom?"

Superman smiled again. "Not quite." He walked over to the door of the conference room and pushed the 'open' button. Through the open doorway stepped Green Arrow, Black Canary and 'Green-Lantern-replacement-the-Corp-had-sent-but-whose-name-Wally-couldn't-remember-at-that-moment'. He hadn't really gotten to know John's replacement that well, because he thought that John's recovery wouldn't take as long as it had.

Also, there was something about him that just grated on Wally's nerves.

He raised a cautious hand. "Uh, not that I'm not flattered, but there're only two of us going. I don't think you need to bring in three guys to replace us."

Canary cleared her throat.

"Uh, that is, two guys and one gal."

She nodded in approval, and Arrow smiled.

Superman, who had since made his way around the table, sat down in his chair. "Well, when John was put out of action, we thought we could fill the gap ourselves, and we did pretty well. But with you two both leaving, I thought it was the right time to bring in a replacement for John as well. So. Kyle, you'll be filling in for Flash, and Ollie will be filling in for John. Dinah, you'll be filling in for Shayera on Earth."

Arrow raised a hand. "Wait… does that mean I get all the intergalactic missions?"

"No," Diana said, smiling. "We'll assign you missions more…down to Earth."

"Damn…" Ollie said, snapping his fingers. "And I had a space suit lined up too."

Wally's eyes lit up beneath his mask. "You did?"

Arrow nodded, gesturing with his hands as he spoke. "Oh yeah, it's even got this laser-"

Clark cleared his throat. "In any case…" Wally and Ollie, noticing his tone of voice, put their excited discussion on hold.

Superman continued. "…You three will have your hands full. Do you think you can handle it?"

"Just call me Captain America," Arrow replied, giving a loose salute.

Kyle allowed a small smile. "Ditto."

"No problem," Canary said, a smirk on her lips.

Clark nodded. "All right then; it's settled. You all start as soon as Flash and Shayera leave."

"And when will that be?" Ollie asked, his gloved hand raised.

"I'm not sure. Flash? Shayera?"

Wally and Shayera looked at each other. Flash smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Uh… soon?"

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Wally and Shayera sat next to each other at the foot of his messy bed, having once again convened in his Metro Tower quarters.

While Wally had taken to lying on his back and allowing his legs to dangle off the bottom, Shayera had hunched forward, rubbing her temples.

"Okay. We seriously need to think of somewhere to go," Wally said, staring up at the ceiling.

"It's _your _planet. Don't you know any good places to go?"

"Well yeah, but everywhere just seems so… blah, y'know? I want this to be something to remember."

"'Blah'?"

"Yes, 'blah'."

"What the hell does that mean? 'Blah'?"

"Like… y'know… cliché… boring… stupid…"

"Did you just say 'cliché'?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I don't know. It just seems like such an… un-Flash-like word to say, is all."

"Why? Because it's got a fancy little 'ay' noise at the end?"

"Pretty much."

Wally shrugged. "Eh. That's fair."

Shayera heard her speedster friend gasp from behind her.

"Oh… hey, hey hey hey… now _that's _an idea…"

"What is?"

The redhead sat up and leapt to his feet. "Road trip!"

"What?"

"Road trip. As in… getting in a car and…"

"Going for a trip on the road?"

"Well put."

A thoughtful look crossed Shayera's face. "But… I don't know… really? A road trip? Is that a good idea?"

"Are you kidding? The sun on your shoulders, the wind breezing through your hair... nothing but two buddies and the open road," he said, pointing to the horizon. "It'll be great! We can stop over and say hi to my buddies… maybe even stay at their places…"

"Wait… road trip… are we going to need a car?"

"I… yes."

"Do you even know how to drive a car?"

"_Yes…_" Wally said. "Well, kinda."

"'Kinda'? What's 'kinda'?"

"Well, I haven't driven for like…" Flash trailed off as he began counting the years on his fingers. He shook his head and waved his hands about. "I forget. But I know _how _they work, and I know all the rules of the road from running around on patrols and stuff." He grinned at Shayera's sceptical expression. "Don't worry, it'll be great! In fact, I'm gonna go and book us a rental car right now. _And _tell Supes when we're going."

He whirled on his heel and made a bee line for the door.

"Wally?"

The speedster turned to look at her.

"When _are _we going?"

"How about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow."

"Yeah! Why not? You can stay at my place tonight – kinda get you warmed up for the rest of the trip."

Shayera gave him a warning glare at the suggestiveness of that statement.

"No, no, I mean… as in… getting practice…" Flash slapped his head. "I mean… y'know, uh… getting… ready… to… do it… I mean-"

Shayera's mock glare broke, and she smiled. "Just go," she said, laughing as she waved him away.

He let out a relieved breath before grinning and shooting out the door. The door slid shut, and Shayera looked at the devastation that was The Flash's room.

_And you're going to be travelling with this guy._

Shayera sighed.

_Happy day._

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Shayera let her bag flump to the ground unceremoniously.

"I see you've cleaned up since the last time I was here."

Wally looked around the room nonchalantly as he picked up her bag and took it into his room. "Not by choice, believe me. I thought it was fine the way it was, but hey… whatever."

Shayera made her way to the TV and squatted in front of the cabinet where the DVD player and sound system were kept. She frowned in confusion.

"Where're all the DVDs?"

"Oh. _Someone _had the great idea of putting them in one place. Pffft. Like that would work." Wally emerged from his room, heading for the kitchen counter in the corner. "I told her, I said, 'Linda'-"

He stopped as Shayera stared at him.

"What?"

"Why did you put _my _luggage in _your _room?"

"Because that's where you're sleeping."

Shayera paused. "Come again?"

"You're sleeping in my room, and I'm sleeping out here on the couch."

"Oh…" She let out a sigh of relief, smiling. "Right…"

"What, you didn't think that-" he was silent as he saw Shayera's expression. "Oh. You did. That's just… ew. On so many levels." He continued on his way to the kitchen.

Shayera watched the speedster quickly and efficiently pull out different ingredients from the cupboard. He began sawing up a loaf of bread at super speed.

"You can cook?"

Wally froze in mid slice to look up at her. "Huh?"

"I… never mind. Where're the DVDs?"

"Second drawer down on the dresser," Wally said, pointing to it with his knife. "What," he said, returning to his preparations, "you don't feel like seeing what's on TV?"

"I just feel like a movie or something… unreal. I don't want to watch the news, because half the time I'm involved in it somehow, I don't like gardening and documentaries because they're… well…"

"Boring?"

"…Yes… and as for sports… they're a bit tame compared to what I'm used to. The closest is ice hockey, but even that is pretty low-key."

"Really?"

"Uh huh."

Wally paused. "Cool."

"What are you making, anyway?"

"Just a little something I call 'Pasta and Garlic Bread'."

Shayera looked up from her DVD rummaging. Right now, she had 'Forrest Gump' (too sappy) in one hand and 'The Mighty Ducks' (which she had no desire to watch) in the other.

"Pasta and Garlic Bread?"

"Yeah. The title kind of takes away from it's epic-ness, I think. I mean, there's sauce on the pasta and everything. There're hidden meanings to these things."

Smiling and shaking her head, the Thanagarian returned to her search.

"Find anything you like?"

"Not really. And just what the hell is this?" she said, holding up a box-set.

"What?"

"Oh come on. 'Transformers: Season One'? Who buys this?"

"They were a vital part of my childhood!"

"Right." She looked back at the drawer. "Have you got anything… exciting?"

"If you want exciting, you should try some Gamestation 3 stuff. Or better yet…" He zipped over to the cabinet. "Try some retro 16-bit goodness."

Shayera squinted at the worn away writing on the machines. "Super Nintendo… Sega Genesis…" she looked up at her friend. "Do I really want to play on these? I mean, how exciting could they be?"

Wally grinned. "Let me introduce you to a little friend of mine called Sonic the Hedgehog."

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The TV emitted another noise, and Shayera growled in frustration. "What in-! I was nowhere near that red ball!"

Wally's grin from earlier was only growing bigger with every exclamation. He lay on the couch behind Shayera, who was sat cross legged in front of the TV, tapping away furiously at the controller. He was getting flashbacks to Titans Tower without even trying.

"Y'know, I could take care of those Special Stages for you…" he said, picking at his teeth smugly.

"Don't. You. Dare."

The speedster put up his hands in a 'whatever' manner, and took to watching his friend curse the blue hedgehog as he raced across the screen.

"What the hell is Tails doing? Can't you control him or something?"

"Well, yeah, but it gets kind of annoying."

"I want to get up there," Shayera said, pointing at the screen. "Grab a controller and give me a lift."

"Ah c'mon, I-"

"_Now._"

"All right, all right," Wally said, slightly alarmed by the low growl in her voice. He zipped over and plugged in his own controller. As he pulled Sonic up to the higher level, Wally glanced at Shayera out of the corner of his eye.

"Y'know… there's a competitive two player mode in this game."

Shayera opened her mouth, but then paused. "Wait… will I lose this game if we restart it?"

"Nope. This is Sonic 3 – it saves the game for you. Revolutionary technology."

After another agonised look at the screen, Shayera relented. "Okay. Let's do it."

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"Another match."

"Ah, c'mon… I'm sleepy. I wanna go to bed…"

"We're not leaving until I beat you."

"Whu- you beat me that time!"

"You weren't trying. You let me win."

"No I didn't!"

Shayera looked over at him.

"Okay, maybe I did. But can you blame me? It's-" Wally's entire face contorted in shock. "-4:30 in the morning! That's it, I'm going to bed." He rose from his place next to Shayera, only for a rock hard Thanagarian hand to grip his wrist and yank him back down to ground level.

"SIT."

"Can't you just go back to playing your one player game? We can get back to this tomorrow."

Shayera stared at him long and hard. She released her grip on his arm. "All right. You go to bed and rest. Because tomorrow I'm going to kick your ass."

"No doubt…" he said, heading towards his room. He paused. "Hey, Shayera?"

"Mmm?"

"I'll just leave your stuff and the bed sheets next to the sofa. It doesn't fold out, so don't force it, okay?"

Shayera stared at the screen.

"Okay?"

"Yes, yes, okay! Goodnight!" she snapped, engulfed in the action onscreen.

Taken aback by the sudden outburst, Wally watched his friend intently play the game before smiling, shaking his head, and making his way into his room.

_It's always the rookies that get hooked…_

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(A/N: Let's see, anything I want to add…

John's condition is a result of something that happened in another of my stories, 'Gut Feeling', but all that you really need to know is that he was injured, and is going to be out of action for a while. So the Lantern Corp sent Rayner to fill in.

Nothing much else to say, except the usual: review!)


	3. Starting Point

Disclaimer: I don't own _Justice League Unlimited._

_**Send Me on My Way**_

**_Chapter 3: Starting Point_**

Wally looked over at Shayera, grinning. "Enjoying yourself?" he yelled, his voice barely registering over the wind.

"I'd be enjoying myself more if you kept your eyes on the road!"

Still grinning, he returned his gaze to the road. "Ah, relax! We'll be- whoops!"

The speedster quickly swerved to avoid colliding with the curb. After forcibly removing her fingernails from the dashboard, Shayera glared at Wally.

"That was a one time thing. But come on! Don't tell me you aren't finding this a _little _fun!"

The winged heroine turned to look out across the landscape that surrounded them. Although Wally was keeping her on edge with his… _unique _driving skills, she _was_ enjoying the lack of responsibility that rested on her shoulders. She shrugged.

"I guess."

"Ah, you're just sore because I beat you at Bomberman."

"You did _not _beat me at Bomberman," she said, turning to face him. "I just needed some time to learn how to play the game."

"Look, it's okay to lose. Ninja Bomberman beats everyone. Only in the right hands, of course," he said, blowing on his knuckles and rubbing them on his shirt smugly.

"Both hands on the wheel, smartass."

She could see Wally's blue eyes rolling behind his sunglasses. Since she had refused to wear the pink ones he had chosen for her, she had enforced a trade on the hapless speedster. Unfortunately, that prevented her from being angry at him for long, since the glasses made him amusing to look at, to say the least.

"Hey, I can drive with one hand on the wheel." He grinned evilly. "I can even drive with my knees."

"Try it and I'll break them."

Wally's grin grew.

"Wally…"

He moved one knee up.

"Don't you dare."

And then the other.

"I'll break them," she said warningly.

He let go of the wheel, allowing his knees to take over.

"See? No problem."

"Red light."

Panic in his eyes, Wally quickly slammed on the brakes, his knees slipping from the wheel and sending the car careening into the traffic light pole. Airbags flumped out of their holding areas and covered the two in dust.

Wally heard a growl. He was glad he couldn't see Shayera's face.

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"I told you a road trip was a bad idea."

He looked over at her incredulously. "You're not giving up after _that_, are you?"

"Wally, it was a car crash!"

"Oh come on. That was like _one _time. I'll totally be able to handle it the next time."

Shayera's eyes went so wide, Wally wondered how they didn't pop out. "_Next _time? You really think I'm getting in a car with you after _that_?" she said, pointing at the bill for the car repairs.

Refusing to acknowledge the bill, Wally instead made his way over to his hammock and slumped into it. "Okay, maybe we shouldn't go by car, I'll give you that."

"I don't see why we had to drive in the first place."

"Because it's just… it's just… a car to man is like… I… because."

"Convincing."

"It is if you're a guy." He sighed. "Look, we don't have to go by car, okay? But, c'mon… you're not _really _gonna throw in the towel, are you?"

Now it was her turn to sigh. "No…"

A grin broke out on his face. "All right."

The door slid open and Clark stepped through.

"Hey Supes."

The Man of Steel gave him a look that was unreadable by both Wally and Shayera. It was impossible to tell if he was angry or exasperated. Probably both.

"All right," he said slowly, waiting for the door to slide shut behind him before continuing. "Before I start… do you even _have _a driving licence, Wally?"

A shade of red crept onto Wally's features. Shayera's were similarly effected, although for a very different reason. Her voice came out in such a frighteningly low way that even Superman moved away slightly.

"You don't even have a driving license."

Wally scratched the back of his head. "Uh, yeah… kinda… not."

She stood up. "I see."

Clark deftly moved between the speedster and the Thanagarian, though his expression betrayed his reluctance to do so.

"Why don't you go on your vacation some other way? Some method of travel that Wally can do nothing about," he said, looking at her enticingly.

Shayera considered Clark's suggestion for a moment, and then peered over his shoulder at Wally, who was scratching his chin in thought.

"How about we take the train? That way I have little to no control over anything."

A red eyebrow cocked, and Shayera looked at him sceptically. "Little to no control?" she asked, in a 'you promise?' tone of voice.

He grinned. "Seriously. What could _I _do on a train to mess it up for us?"

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Shayera winced as the baby's high pitched scream pierced her ears once again. Ignoring the rhythmic motions of the train, she leaned over to speak in Wally's ear.

"Are trains always like this?"

He shrugged. "Don't know. I've only been on one when I was like five. And that was one of those mini trains that goes around the mall, so…"

"…you don't know." She looked at him incredulously. "Why didn't you go on any real trains?"

"Well, my folks… my _Dad_ wasn't too up on the idea of giving money to… well, anyone, really, so we drove to most places. But my Mom got car sick easy, so we couldn't really go that far. Holidays sure were a blast," he said, a forced grin crossing his features.

"Wait… so how many holidays have you actually been on?"

Blue eyes were cast upwards as the speedster recalled his past. "Let's see... there was a few times when my Aunt and Uncle paid for the flight to go and see them…"

"And where was that?"

"It depended on where they were." He shrugged. "They travel a lot."

She nodded slowly. "And… where else?"

"Um… does superhero stuff count?"

"Work, you mean?"

He smiled. "I guess not…"

"So… you've been on holiday to see your Aunt and Uncle… and that's it?"

"I dunno…" he grinned. "Living with the Titans was kind of a vacation in itself, y'know, and…" his enthusiasm faded slightly. "Uh… I guess that's about it, yeah."

Shayera opened her mouth to reply, and then closed it again. "Oh."

The bouncy Wally West quickly returned. "But hey! We're going on one right now, so… that's good, right?"

A grin spread across the disguised Thanagarian's lips. "Right." Silence descended upon the two. Shayera looked over at him. "So who are we visiting in Ohio?"

"Jay and Joan Garrick."

"Who?"

"Well, Jay was…" he paused and looked around the train before whispering the answer in Shayera's ear. "He was the first Flash way back in World War Two. He helped my uncle back when he was the Flash, and he's been pretty good to me, too." He leaned back, satisfied that the secrecy was well maintained. "It's kinda like having another grandfather, I guess."

"Is he like you?"

"Hell no. Smart, mature, very capable… he's like the anti-me." He smirked. "But he has his good days."

Shayera returned the smile. "I'm sure he does."

"And Joan makes the best apple pie you'll ever have."

"Actually… it'll be the _first _apple pie I've ever had."

Wally seemed almost appalled by this information. "Seriously? You've never had an apple pie?"

She shrugged. "I just… never got around to it."

"How can you live in America and _not _have eaten apple pie?" Wally asked, looking ahead in amazement.

"I'm sorry if this offends you somehow, but-"

"No, it's not that. It's just like the _logistics_ of it. You've been here for… what? Over five years, right?"

"Something like that."

"And you've been in America for _all _of that time?"

"Not _all _the time, but most of it was here, yes."

The speedster's mouth hung open before he smiled and shook his head. "That's crazy…"

"Why? Because I haven't had an apple pie?"

"Well… yeah. It's like going to Italy and _not _having pizza or spaghetti or whatever."

"Is apple pie even American?"

"Well… yeah. That's where the phrase 'American as apple pie' comes from."

"Are you _sure_, though?"

"I'm not _sure_. I don't really look up pie history in my free time."

"So apple pie might _not _be American."

"Stop talking crazy talk."

"But-"

"Crazy talk!" he declared, raising a hand to silence her. "And besides, it doesn't matter where it came from – although it totally comes from America- the point is that Joan Garrick makes the best damn apple pies on the planet."

"Is that right?"

Well, except for Ma Kent's."

"Ma Kent?"

"Clark's mom."

"No, I know who she is, I was just wondering when you went to see her."

"Oh… it was… uh…" Wally shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "It was… kinda… after the invasion."

Shayera was silent for a moment. "Oh."

"Anyway," Flash said suddenly, bouncing slightly in his seat, "the point I was _trying _to make - before the incredibly and overwhelmingly rude interruption - was that Joan Garrick and Martha Kent make the best apple pies on the planet. I tell you, if those two joined forces and made one gigantic pie together, there would be no war."

The Thanagarian was once again silent, although this time for a different reason. Her eyes were half closed as she looked at her friend.

"A gigantic pie."

"Yup."

Once again, she was silent. "And you're how old?"

Wally grinned. "Ah, c'mon, I'm just kidding around."

"About the gigantic pie?"

"No, about the two joining forces. The flavours of their pies would clash. So they should really make two separate gigantic pies."

Shayera nodded. "Right."

"Although… there _could_ be a war between the people who liked Marta Kent's pie and those who liked Joan Garrick's pie, so maybe that's _not _such a good idea…" he said, scratching his chin as though giving the subject serious thought.

"How do you have a girlfriend?" Shayera asked finally, looking at her friend in a 'what the hell am I doing here?' way.

"Linda's asked herself that very same question. She doesn't know, either. But anyway, I stand by the 'big pie equals no war' theory."

"Right."

"Hey, you have absolutely _no _idea just how good these pies are. They're better than s-" Wally stopped himself in mid-sentence. "Well, maybe not, but when they're at their best they're on a par with it."

"Wally."

"Mmm?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Pies."

"So… you _are_ aware you're rambling about pies?"

"Not rambling. Raving!"

"…right."

"What? Look, don't judge until you've tried the pie. If you still don't like them – which is impossible, by the way – _then _you can make fun of me. But until then, zip the lip, missy."

Shayera cocked an eyebrow. "Did you just call me missy?"

He shrugged. "Well… you said I was rambling."

"You were."

"And you have never eaten an apple pie before. So you really can't judge whether I was rambling or whether I was just _really, really, _enthusiastic."

"Is there anything you're _not _enthusiastic about?"

Wally opened his mouth to reply, but then closed it again, crossing his arms. A frown wrinkled his brow as he closed his eyes, thinking back in his mind. After about five minutes, he came out of his self imposed trance.

"Pez."

"What?"

"Pez. You know, the little bits of candy? You put them in this weird ass stick thing with a head on the top."

"So… the only thing on this entire planet you're not enthusiastic about is a piece of candy?"

"Pretty much."

Shayera sighed. "Right."

The grin on the speedster's face grew to epic proportions as he rested back in his chair.

"Isn't this gonna be great?"

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(A/N: Sorry for the wait, folks, and for the relative shortness of this chapter, but as I said starting out, this is going to be a more relaxed affair both in tone and in my writing it, so… the length and pace of it are going to fluctuate. This is mostly due to busyness with other things, and not any unwillingness to write, so don't be concerned about an unfinished story (if you are, in fact, concerned).

And I completely share Wally's sentiments about apple pies from elderly relatives. So tasty it's crazy.

As always, review!)


	4. Vintage

Disclaimer: I don't own _Justice League Unlimited._

_**Send Me on My Way**_

_**Chapter Four: Vintage**_

Shayera wasn't used to feeling awkward. She supposed it was one of those feelings that one never gets used to; otherwise it wouldn't be awkwardness anymore. Just silence.

But it wasn't silence that dominated the room. It was that damn clock hanging from the wall. She could have sworn the ticking was getting louder the more she didn't talk to the man sat to her left in his comfortable looking armchair.

The man, who Wally had introduced as Jay Garrick, the first Flash, scratched his cheek and pulled on his ear in a fidgety manner, indicating his similar feelings of awkwardness.

"So…" he managed, his eyes wandering around the room until they met hers. "Wally's team-mate, eh?"

Shayera nodded. "Yeah."

"In the uh..."

"Justice League."

"Justice League, right, right…"

Garrick looked around the room yet again, puffing his cheeks out as he blew absent-mindedly.

"Did you ever have anything like the League?" Shayera asked, determined to beat this awkwardness as though it were some opponent she could wrestle to the ground.

"Ah, no, not really, no. We didn't have the time to organise it. As you probably know, war isn't really a neat and tidy business."

Shayera nodded. "True enough."

The silence once again descended on them.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

"Not much of a talker, eh?"

"Not really." Shayera paused for a moment. "Why? Are you?"

Garrick shrugged. "Not particularly." He leaned forward, as if talking conspiratorially. "To be honest, I never really felt the need to be constantly talking to people."

"Is that right?"

Jay nodded. "Joan drives me crazy sometimes. The way I see it, if you can sit and be silent with someone, it's a compliment to how comfortable you are with them."

Shayera sighed and nodded. "Exactly. That's what I've been trying to tell Wally for so long. He always thinks that if I'm not talking, I'm not happy. So what does he do?"

"Joan's exactly the same way. Exactly. Although, admittedly, it's easier to deal with if it's your spouse."

She remembered herself and John unable to talk to one another before she had left. "I suppose it is."

Jay cocked an eyebrow. "So?"

"So… what?"

"_Are _you and Wally…?" Jay said, awkwardly gesturing with his hands. He obviously wasn't too comfortable talking about this kind of thing.

"No, we're not," she said, smiling.

"Oh, thank God."

Shayera's already cocked eyebrow rose even higher. "Sorry?"

"Oh, no, no. I didn't mean that like it sounded. It's just that the last I heard he was with some reporter woman. And if he was with you as well, well…" he sighed. "I just didn't want him to be going back to his old ways."

She nodded slowly in understanding. "I can see why that would worry you."

"He told you about that?"

"Well… he didn't go into too much detail – it _is _Wally, remember. But… yeah, he told me about how he, um…"

"'Played the field'?" Jay inserted, smiling.

Shayera returned the smile. "Exactly."

The ex-Flash looked at the door leading from the living room into the corridor. "But I have to admit… he really seems to have come into his own now."

"He's certainly better, if that's what you mean. In fact, now he's scared of most women."

An evil grin spread across Garrick's face as he leaned forward, interested. "Is that right? Any stories you want to share?"

Shayera paused before responding. She remembered all the times Wally had annoyed, irritated, and oftentimes infuriated her with his antics.

She remembered how he had nearly killed her in a car crash the day before.

She smiled pleasantly at the ageing superhero next to her. "As a matter of fact, I do…"

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"She seems nice."

Wally looked over at Joan Garrick curiously.

"She is, yeah," he said suspiciously, cautiously laying the first plate on the table.

"Pretty."

His eyes thinned as he slowly lay down another plate. Joan frowned on performing household tasks at super speed – having been married to Jay nearly fifty years, Wally couldn't say he could blame her; he could see why non-speedster's would feel slightly unnerved after living with one for awhile.

"I guess…" he replied, seeing where Joan's line of questioning was going. He would not allow it. "What're we having?"

But Joan was older than Wally, and much more experienced in the art of information handling.

"Lasagne. So," she said, dismissing his diversion like an expert. "How close would you say you and Shayera are?" she asked, taking some glasses out of an overhead cupboard in the kitchen.

"I'll have you know this line of questioning is making me very uncomfortable."

"Suck it up. So. You and Shayera. How close."

Wally lay down the final plate. "I don't know," he said, exasperated. "We like each other, I suppose."

"In what way?"

"All right! Fine! She's the love of my life! We're like Romeo and Juliet! And I had to fight like a million evil minions to get with her! And we're gonna get married! And have like a bazillion babies!"

"All right, all right, calm down."

Wally sighed. "Sorry. But seriously, we're just really good friends."

"How good?"

"Would you stop that?"

"Baby."

"No, no, seriously. Thinking about me and Shayera like that… sometimes it even makes me kinda queasy."

Joan cocked an eyebrow. "Queasy?"

Wally nodded. "Uh huh. It's about as wrong as me and John getting together."

"Now _that _I could have done without."

"Told ya," the speedster replied, winking at the woman who almost acted as a second mother to him. He had only known the Garricks since his superhero career began, but they had become hopelessly entwined in his life now, being a constant presence to help him not only in his superhero life, but also with his personal problems as well.

He honestly didn't know what he would do without Jay and Joan Garrick.

The elderly woman smiled and shook her head, her brownish silver hair glistening in the light as she did so.

The oven timer chimed.

"Dinner's ready."

"Ooo, lasagne."

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"So you and Wally must be fairly close, eh?"

Shayera was now finding she was actually enjoying this man's company. If she was honest, she did have her apprehensions about this aspect of the trip. Of course, she had had doubts about the very concept of it.

Particularly since it was Wally's idea.

She shrugged in response to the ageing Flash's question. "I suppose we are. He was one of the few people who didn't bear any grudges or resentment after the… um…" Her eyes avoided Jay's like a plague.

Jay, knowing instantly what Shayera was referring to, just nodded. "Wally never was the type to hold a grudge unfairly." He smiled wistfully. "Or even when he had good reason to." He shook his head to bring himself back to the present. "Anyway. You and Wally."

"Right, right," Shayera said, nodding. "Well, I trust him, and I guess he trusts me." She smiled. "Though that's not saying much."

Jay wagged a correcting finger. "Don't let appearances fool you. He puts on a very happy show, but there are actually very few people he completely and totally trusts. For instance, he obviously feels comfortable enough with you to show you his past and talk to you about it. He's very private about that with most people."

A red eyebrow rose in interest. "He is?"

"Uh huh," Jay replied, nodding. "Here's another example. He's only ever brought two of his friends here to meet us; John Stewart and Dick Grayson."

Shayera nodded slowly. "Has… does Wally talk about his father? To you, I mean?"

"His father?"

"Yeah. He's only mentioned him once or twice, but every time he does he diverts the conversation onto something else."

The older Flash clucked his tongue thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin. "So Wally hasn't told you anything about him?"

Shayera shook her head.

"Then I can't either."

She sighed, smiling, her only acknowledgement of understanding a cursory nod.

"He'll tell you when he's ready," Jay said, looking up as the door to the living room opened, and Wally stepped through.

"Dinner's ready. It's lasagne."

"Ooo, lasagne," Jay said, hopping to his feet and rubbing his hands together.

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Shayera had never been a forest person. This was obviously something she had in common with Wally, who was even now finding it difficult to get comfortable on the uneven and often times pointy ground.

"Would you sit still for one second?" she asked irritably, her own itchy backside making her more irritable than usual.

"Sorry! This stuff is all… nasty," Wally shot back, stopping only for a moment before resuming his constant shuffling.

Jay just smiled. It had been his idea for them to come out into the nearby forest and camp out for the night. Joan had backed out. Shayera had wondered why.

Wally groaned loudly in frustration.

And Shayera wasn't wondering anymore.

She reached out and grabbed Wally by the shoulder, who instantly froze.

"Park it before I break it."

The speedster smiled nervously. "Uh… gotcha." He sat down.

A wry smile broke out on Jay's face. "You two would make a great sideshow act."

Shayera glared at him.

"Or not," Jay corrected, realising his near fatal error.

The Thanagarian super heroine nodded in approval before slowly crossing her arms.

Feeling that the danger had passed, Wally loudly clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Okay then! What's on the agenda? Marshmallows?"

Jay reached behind him and threw over a bag of marshmallows, which landed neatly on Wally's lap.

"Why, thank you."

Wally's eyes almost lit up when he saw the next item Jay brought up.

"Whoa… a guitar…?"

Jay nodded, and as if thought to prove it was in fact a guitar, smoothly strummed all six strings.

His mouth already half full of marshmallows, Wally extended a sugar coated hand to Jay. "C'mon. Let me have a go of it."

Shayera smacked him in the arm. "You do _not _know how to play the guitar."

Wally winked at her. "Oh, don't I?"

"No."

"Well, we'll see about that. Jay, the guitar, if you please."

The elderly Flash frowned. "Wipe that marshmallow stuff of your hands first. And let Shayera have some before you eat the whole bag."

"As if I would."

In a blur of motion, Wally had quickly wiped the sugar on his leg, stuffed the marshmallows into Shayera's arms, and taken the guitar from Jay.

"Now," he said, smirking at the two, "let's see if you recognise _this _number."

And so he played.

After a few minutes, and seemingly satisfied with himself, he set the guitar down again, his earlier smirk having now grown to epic proportions. Shayera looked at Jay, and then back to Wally.

"Wally… are you _sure _you know how to play the guitar?"

"Yes! How could you not recognise that song? But… okay, okay, if you didn't get that one, let's try another one."

He snatched up the guitar once again, and once again strummed out another song, the same satisfied look crossing his face once he had finished.

Jay just stared at him. "Wally… that's not a song. It's just… random chords put together."

The red headed speedster threw his arms into the air. "Oh, come on! How could you not get _that _one?" He scowled. "All right, fine! Let's see if you get this one!"

Alternating his glare between Jay and Shayera, he reached back and once again picked up the guitar, but this time, he slowly strummed on the strings, making a noise not altogether displeasing. Shayera had to admit, _this _one sounded familiar.

A smile crossed Jay's face as he slowly began to sway his head to the music. "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream…" he sang gently, almost under his breath.

Wally looked over at Shayera smugly. "So, Shayera. Who got game?"

Shayera sighed. "Just shut up and play."

The Flash grin appeared on Wally's face. "Straight up."

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(A/N: Ye Gods! How long did _this _take?

Anyway, hope you enjoyed. This felt a bit weaker compared to the earlier chapters. I'm not sure if I touched upon everything I wanted to with Jay and Joan, but the point was really for Shayera to see another side of Wally's life rather than to flesh out Jay and Joan. A story for another day, I guess. Not that they won't be back later on down the line, mind you…

Now, something I've only just discovered is the Disney show _Kim Possible_. Why do I mention this, you ask? Because Kim and Ron's relationship reminds me so much of Shayera and Wally's it's not even funny. Nothing really relevant to the story, but interesting nonetheless. And a very fun show, to boot.

Next: Having visited Jay and Joan Garrick, Wally and Shayera head on over to their next stop: Bludhaven – and you know who hangs around there…

Anyways, review!)


	5. Comfortable

Disclaimer: I don't own _Justice League Unlimited._

_**Send Me On My Way**_

**_Chapter Five: Comfortable_**

As he listened to the sounds of babies screaming, couples yelling, and the almost constant sound of police sirens in the distance, Wally couldn't help but think how happy his friend Dick Grayson must be to live in Bludhaven. He had only been to Gotham City a few times, but from what he'd seen of it, he knew it was infinitely preferable by the general public to live there than in Bludhaven. Hell, the only reason he felt safe in Nightwing's city was because he was the Flash.

Having an easily ticked off Thanagarian woman with a huge mace didn't hurt, either.

They reached Dick's apartment, and Wally rapped the door at super speed with his knuckles, feeling nervous though he didn't know entirely why.

"Feeling a little anxious, are we?" Shayera asked, a red eyebrow cocked.

"No…" Wally replied. "Okay, yes."

"You _do_ knowyou can run faster than the speed of sound, right?

"Yeah, but… this city is crazy. You saw how that transvestite hooker was staring at my Converse All Stars," Wally said, displaying his red baseball trainers to her with a certain element of pride.

Shayera sighed and shook her head. "Wally, just because _you _think those shoes are the best thing in the world, doesn't mean everyone else does."

A look of genuine shock crossed Wally's features. "Are you mocking the Converse All Stars?"

"They're shoes, Wally. That's all."

The speedster's mouth hung open, Shayera's flippant statement leaving him speechless. He scowled and crossed his arms, turning away from Shayera.

"I'm seriously not even talking to you now."

The Thanagarian just stared at the back of his head, and was about to relent and say something nice about the Converse All Stars when the door opened, revealing Dick Grayson, otherwise known as the costumed crime fighter Nightwing. He was looking at someone else inside the apartment as he opened the door.

A bad move on his part.

Wally grinned and opened his arms.

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

He charged forward, tackling his friend to the ground before he could even do anything.

"GAH!"

Dick groaned from beneath Wally.

"Ow."

Shayera sighed and shook her head.

Wally heard a noise come from his left, and looked over to see a slightly confused Barbara Gordon stood before him.

"Oh. Uh, hi, Babs," Wally said, managing a few nervous laughs before levering himself off of Dick. "How, uh… how're you doing?"

"Pretty good. How about you?"

"Well… I just tackled Dick to the ground. That was fun."

She smiled. "I bet." Her eyes moved over to Dick. "I'll see you later."

"Uh, yeah, sure. Later," he replied, scratching his dark hair with a slight hint of nervousness.

"Nice seeing you, Wally."

The speedster nodded. "You too. See you around."

Barbara nodded and headed through the door. As she and Shayera passed each other, there was a stand off of sorts as one silently assessed the other. Coming to the conclusion that neither posed a threat, they settled for a terse nod before heading in separate directions. Shayera came into the apartment, and Dick gently shut the door behind her.

"So, Shayera," he quickly began, "how-"

In a blur of movement, Wally was suddenly behind Dick. "Dick? A quick word. Shayera, would you excuse us?"

She shrugged. "By all-"

Suddenly they were gone, the door to the kitchen left swinging.

"-means."

Shayera sighed and looked around the living room. She slowly and slothfully made her way over to the TV, switched it on, and fell back onto the sofa.

Maybe she could find something interesting for a change.

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"What?"

"Just one question, Dick; what the hell are you doing?"

He sighed. "Look, it's-"

"What about Kori? I thought you and her were-"

"We _are_, but recently, things have been getting weird, and I just needed someone to talk to. Barbara knows me. It was just-"

"No, no, no. _I'm _someone you talk to you. Barbara is an ex-girlfriend. An ex-girlfriend you almost asked to marry you, remember?"

"No, I'd forgotten that," he replied dryly. Dick paused, and, seeing the unrelenting pissed-off-ness of Wally's demeanour, he decided a different approach. "Look, Barbara and I are just good friends now, and-"

Wally put up his hand. "Stop, stop. Just… no. It's just… bad idea, Dick. Bad… bad idea."

"How is it different than you talking to Raven while you're going out with Linda?"

"Because Raven's moved on. Barbara hasn't."

Dick was silent as he crossed his arms, refusing to return Wally's gaze.

"Wait… she _has _moved on?"

No reply.

"Who? I mean, I haven't heard about her hanging around with any guys that much except for Bats-" he stopped in his tracks. "Whoa…" His face scrunched up. "Seriously? That's kinda… bleh, isn't it?"

"It's not confirmed or anything. It's just… vibes I'm getting."

A sigh of relief escaped Wally's lips. "Whew. Had me going there. But seriously. Meeting up with Babs just because things are weird with Kori… bad-"

"-idea, I get it, I get it."

"And weird how? Last time we talked about it, you said things were getting… serious."

"Things were. They _are_. I don't know."

Wally smiled. "Oh. I get it. You're _afraid_ of the seriousness."

"What? No I'm not."

"Dude, you so are. It's written all over your angst-y face."

"I do not have an 'angst-y' face."

"Yes you do."

"Not."

"Do."

"Not."

"Do."

"Not."

"Ahem."

The two grown men looked over at Shayera, who was stood in the doorway with her eyes half closed and a 'what the hell are you doing?' expression on her face.

"Excuse me, Wally. But I the only reason I came here without complaint – no offence, Dick – was because you told me we would be going to a bar and drinking beer. I need beer." She turned to Dick. "Do you know what it's like to spend over three days in a row with him?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but Shayera had jumped in before he could even get out the first syllable.

"I want beer. We are going to go out now and _get_ beer. We will drink. I will be happy. And most importantly, you two will stop arguing like girls. Okay?"

The two nodded. "Okay," they said simultaneously.

She sighed happily and nodded. And with that, she was gone.

The pair stood in silence. Dick slowly looked over at Wally.

"Is she single?"

Wally's face screwed up in disgust. "W- ah, dude, no! I- bleh, that's just- dah! What the hell! That's… just wrong!"

"What? I just-"

"No, that's like… practically incest or something! Just stop, stop!"

Dick put up his hands in surrender. "All right, all right."

There was another silence.

"…Wally?"

"Uh… yeah?"

"Incest?"

He shrugged, scratching the back of his neck as he looked at anything but his friend. "Yeah, well… Shayera's like my… and you're… y'know… like… so… yeah."

Dick nodded, at a loss for words. "Uh… thanks."

Wally cleared his throat, pitching his voice down as far as it would go. "Uh, so uh… how them Seahawks doing? Pretty good! You see the game?"

Dick quickly followed suit. "Uh, yeah, yeah, it was good! Yeah! Lots of… fighting and stuff!"

"Yeah! It was… yeah!"

The kitchen door swung open again, nearly being knocked off its hinges as it collided with the wall. Shayera stood before them, fists clenched and one eyebrow twitching slightly.

"Shayera. Beer. Need. NOW."

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Shayera took a grateful gulp of her beer, quickly drinking the whole glass with a loud glugging noise. She followed it up with a resounding belch.

Wally and Dick daintily sipped at their beers.

"Nice," Wally said.

"Very nice," Dick added.

Shayera looked first at her two companions, and then at the bar they were sat in. Music played lightly in the background; not loud enough that someone could be bothered by it, but not so quiet that it couldn't be heard.

The only other noise was the sound of pool ball clinking against pool ball, and the occasional murmuring. Her gaze once again settled on the two superheroes sat next to her, their beers barely even touched.

"This is the life, isn't it?" Wally asked, grinning. "Just three buds sitting around and relaxing over a nice cold beer."

Dick clinked his glass with Wally's. "I'll drink to that."

They both took another dainty sip.

"Oh, please," Shayera mumbled, rolling her eyes.

Both Wally and Dick swung their heads around dramatically to look at her.

"Say what?"

"You two are such girls," Shayera said, turning on her bar stool to face them.

Wally brought his head up to look down on her. "I'll have you know both GL _and _GA like bars like this."

Shayera shrugged. "Of course they do. They're girls too, at least when it comes to entertainment. Put on some movie or go to some quiet bar, and they're happy to sit for hours on end."

"And I take it you don't agree with this?" Dick asked, his curiosity piqued.

Their female companion shook her head. "It doesn't quite do it for me."

The pair of heroes exchanged a quick glance before returning their collective gaze to Shayera proper.

"And what does?" Wally asked, the caution in his voice evident.

A Cheshire grin spread across the Thanagarian's face. "You wouldn't like it," she said, waving a dismissive hand. "John didn't like the kind of place I'm taking about, so why would you?"

Dick leant forward. "Try us."

Shayera's grin became a smirk. "Okay. You asked for it."

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Wally's brain was about to explode. He was pretty sure that was what was supposed to happen when one's brain was attacked again and again by loud noises. He glanced over at Dick (or at least who he thought was Dick through the flashing lights), and hoped he wasn't the only one about to die in this nasty, _nasty _way.

"Isn't this great?" Shayera yelled, the look of joy on her face reminding Wally of those kids in toy ads.

The speedster managed to ram a thumb up into the air at his friend before someone knocked into him from behind. He was just mentally picking a random expletive when he saw just how big said person was. He smiled nervously.

"Uh… my bad."

The large man grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt's collar. "What did you say about my momma?"

"Nothing!" he replied instantly.

After a tense moment of consideration, the large man decided to put him back down. With a warning glare at both Wally _and _Dick for some reason, he made his way past them and to the dance floor.

"What was that about?" Dick yelled over the din.

Wally just shrugged. "Where's Shayera?"

Dark blue eyes scanned the room before finding their quarry. "At the bar," he said, pointing across the room.

Slowly, steadily, and painfully, the two made their way through the crowd to reach Shayera. She turned to face them, two glass mugs of what they both hoped was beer clutched in each hand.

"Now _this _is more like it!"

Wally let out a small laugh. "Yeah!"

Dick and Wally sipped at their drinks, and promptly spat them back into their glasses. Shayera, seemingly oblivious to their disgust, leant over to speak to Wally.

"What happened over there?"

"Oh – just some big guy thinking I insulted his mom. No big deal."

"Which guy?"

"Uh…" He quickly scanned the room. "That one," he said, keeping his gesture very fleeting, lest the large man see him pointing and take it as another insult to his lineage.

"I see."

Shayera finished her drink and wiped her mouth before belching loudly. Looking around the crowded club, she held the glass down below her body, and snapped off the handle. She handed it over to a very confused looking Wally, who could only watch in horror as Shayera took aim, leant back, and threw the mug part of the glass across the room and into the aforementioned large man's back.

He roared in pain, and turned around, only to see Wally holding the handle part of the mug, standing dumbly in awe and shock at what his Thanagarian colleague had just done. The large man began to make his way through the crowd, knocking them aside and over his huge shoulders as he went.

Finally, he arrived in front of Wally and Shayera, his face red with rage and his whole body heaving in anger. The speedster glanced over at Shayera, who merely smiled at the giant as sweetly as humanly possible before shrugging and pointing at Wally.

The human tank turned his attention to Wally.

"Oh no."

Dick, meanwhile, had been completely oblivious to any of these goings on, distracting himself from the unpleasant smell of the club by trying to listen as hard as he could to the music.

Wally barrelled headlong into his back, knocking the both of them over a table and onto the floor, sending drinks, cigarettes and people flying in every direction.

One barfly looked first at the commotion being caused, than at another barfly sat next to him. With a pleasant smile, he tossed his drink in his companion's face, quickly followed by a fist.

The rest of the club happily followed suit. Even the bar staff got in on the action.

Using honed skills, both Dick and Wally effortlessly ducked and blocked blows from all around them.

"What the hell did you do, Wally?"

"I didn't do anything! It was Shayera!"

"Oh, yeah, like I'm supposed to believe th-"

An incensed battle cry interrupted Dick, and five drunken fighters suddenly went flying over their heads, landing painfully in a pile on the floor.

"Told you!" Wally said, turning to face Dick with a smug look on his face.

He was grabbed by the leg and tossed across the room for his gloating. Dick couldn't help but smile at the high pitched yelp Wally let out as he flew across the room.

Suddenly, Dick heard something he never thought he would hear in the middle of a bar fight.

Laughter. Pure, unrestrained laughter. Dick and Wally looked up from their respective places on the dance floor to see Shayera stood on the balcony above them, grinning like a kid on a sugar high. With a loud cry, Shayera tossed herself from the balcony and landed smack dab in the middle of a group of fighting drunkards. They all fell to the ground instantly, and all Wally could hear was a mix of grunts, yells and crunches.

Dick and Wally caught each other's eyes over the fighting, a steady smirk spreading across both of their faces. They both got to work.

As much it pained him to admit it, Wally was enjoying himself.

He heard the loudest battle cry yet, followed by an equally loud cry of pain.

Wally had never seen Shayera happier.

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Wally West, the superhero otherwise known as the Flash, collapsed onto the sofa before anyone else could even think about it. He felt a hand grasp him by the back of his shirt and pull him off. He decided to comply. It wasn't as if he could have offered much resistance anyway; someone could have rolled him off and he wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. His back ended up on the floor while his legs remained up on the head of the sofa, neatly tucked next to the armrest.

He looked up from his spot on the floor to see Shayera slumped on the sofa, face down in his legs, which she had obviously decided were comfortable enough to sleep on. He let his head thunk back to the floor, leaving him staring up at the ceiling. It was the most boring shade of grey he had ever seen. Wally had seen shades of grey before, but damn; that ceiling was just butt ugly and boring. He'd have to mention it to Dick in the morning, if he remembered.

"Hey. You guys need anything?" a groggy voice enquired. Using the process of elimination, Wally determined it was Dick.

Shayera grunted a negative. Wally followed suit.

"Okay. See you guys tomorrow."

Shayera grunted a positive. Wally followed suit.

He heard the door to Dick's room click shut, and Wally slowly let his eyes close shut. He lightly felt a cushion being placed on his legs, and smiled.

_I guess my legs aren't as comfortable as I thought._

A small part of his brain brought up the point that he was going to sleep in an awkward tilted U shape, but he quickly dismissed it. He would feel the pain tomorrow. As it was, he was just too tired.

His eyes slowly began to shut…

"Wally?"

The eyes sprang open at the muffled voice coming from somewhere near his feet.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. That was fun."

"No problem."

"Can we do it again tomorrow?"

He grinned slothfully. "Go to sleep."

"Is that a yes?"

"Can't hear you. Sleeping."

Shayera was silent for a moment. Wally felt a cushion hit him in the face, which he promptly put under his head.

"Night, Wally."

"Night, Shayera." He smiled. "Goodnight, Dick!"

No response.

"I said, 'goodnight, Dick'!"

"Goodnight, Wally!" came the very agitated response.

There was silence for a moment, then Wally heard what he could have sworn was a sigh coming from Dick's room.

"Goodnight, Shayera!" he said, causing Wally to break out in a grin.

"Goodnight, Dick!" she replied, though her yell was muffled by the cushion/Wally leg mix she was resting her face on.

"Happy now, Wally?"

No response.

"Wally?"

A loud snore erupted from Wally, though the huge grin on his face indicated he was anything but asleep.

"I swear to God, you're an asshole sometimes!"

Wally just kept on snoring.

Though no-one would ever know, Shayera was grinning ear to ear while she was resting on that sofa.

Because it had been a long time since she had felt this damn good.

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(A/N: Pretty fast this time, huh? I wasn't lying when I told some of you guys this update wouldn't take long.

Thanks to Mist for the 'No-one expects the Spanish Inquisition!' thing – it just seemed like such a Wally thing to do, I couldn't resist.

Nothing much to add here, except that I realise the bar fight here was a complete rip of the bar fight in 'Comfort and Joy' – it was deliberately similar, so hush with the copyright talk.

As always, reviews loved and appreciated!

Next: Wally and Shayera decide to head to a certain T shaped tower, and Dick decides to go with them to see his old team-mates. But before they get there, they have to stop off and see someone else – Wally's estranged mother, Mary…)


	6. Awkward

Disclaimer: I don't own _Justice League Unlimited._

_**Send Me on My Way**_

_**Chapter Six: Awkward**_

Dick sighed for what seemed the hundredth time as he looked around. It really did look quite idyllic here; birds singing, leaves rustling in the gentle summer wind, and not a cloud in the sky.

It didn't change the fact that he didn't want to be here.

"Would you stop whining?" Shayera asked irritably, waving a hoverfly away from her face.

"I'm not whining. I'm _sighing_."

"Same difference. I don't see what your problem is, anyway. You agreed to come."

"Yes, but that was because a certain _someone _told me we would be going straight to Jump City," Dick said, nodding in the direction of Wally, who was walking slightly ahead of them.

Wally didn't reply. A look was exchanged between the speedster's two friends. Dick tilted his head to the side slightly.

"Wally?"

No reply.

"Wally?"

"Mmm?"

"You okay?"

The speedster quickly shook his head, shaking himself out of his self-imposed stupor. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Fine." He flashed a quick smile their way before facing forward again.

Well, now… _that _was unusual.

Dick didn't know too much about Wally's parents, only that they had divorced for some reason that Wally wasn't willing to talk about, even to him. In fact, Wally had never really spoken about his parents _at all_ to _anyone_, as far as Dick knew. A quick glance in Shayera's direction confirmed that she also knew as little about the West family history as he did.

They turned a corner and began walking up the driveway of a smallish yet perfectly comfortable looking house. Gradually, the trio made their way up to it.

In a manner slower than anything Dick had ever seen from the Scarlet Speedster, Wally reached up and knocked on the door three times, each knock seemingly draining energy from him.

After waiting for a few seconds, Dick could make out a figure coming towards them through the frosted glass.

A male figure.

And, judging by the puzzled look on Wally's face, it wasn't someone who was supposed to be there.

The door opened, and Dick tried not to guffaw at the walking stereotype that was stood before him. The man had skin much too tanned for the wrinkles that creased his features, and the pure white of his hair and clothes only served to amplify the effect. He was wearing a white polo shirt, with equally white shorts and trainers, his socks pulled up as far as they could go. Hell, all he needed was a sweater wrapped around his shoulders, and the image would have been complete.

Dick would have betted anything that the man had a yacht sitting in a harbour somewhere.

The man looked each of them up and down, his eyes lingering on Shayera the longest. Her lips lifted slightly in a silent snarl, and he quickly averted his eyes to look at Wally. Dick tried to hide his smile.

"Yes?"

Wally raised a hand in a half hearted wave. "Hi. Is, uh… Mary home?"

The man thinned his eyes. "Yes…"

"Oh. Ok. Uh… can we… come in?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

"…I'm Wally."

His only response was a blank stare.

"Mary's son."

That certainly got his attention. "Her _son_?"

"Uh, yeah. I mean, this _is_ Mary West's house, right?"

The man opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out but some brief strangled noise. "Could you wait one minute, please?"

He closed the door before Wally could reply.

"That went well," Shayera muttered, her green eyes idly browsing the area.

Dick tilted his head to better look at his friend. "Who was that, Wally?"

He sighed and shrugged. "Damned if I know."

The three stopped their conversation as they heard the faint glimmerings of conversation inside the house.

"Mary, there's someone here who says he's your son."

"What?"

"Your son!"

"Wally's here?"

"You have a son! Why have I never heard about this?"

"…I'll go and let Wally in."

"Your son…"

Another figure came into view, this time much more appropriate for someone who could be Wally's mother. The door opened, and, for the first time, Dick Grayson and Shayera Hol saw some evidence of the West lineage.

There was certainly a resemblance to Wally, but it was most likely because they were stood next to one another, allowing an easy comparison. If Dick ran into her on the street, she would have seemed strangely familiar, but nothing more. She didn't have Wally's fiery red hair, having been replaced with a tan brown, but she did have his pale blue eyes. It was the eyes, Dick decided, that made her look so similar to Wally.

Said speedster pulled a hand from his jean pockets to offer a small wave. The hand went back into aforementioned pocket almost an instant later. "Uh… hi."

Mary West smiled, though it wasn't the kind of smile one would associate with a mother welcoming her son. Her pleasure seemed genuine, but it was more like she was expecting something bad to happen. Perhaps Wally reminded her of his father too much.

"I wasn't expecting you."

"Yeah… I left a message on your cell, but uh… I guess you didn't get it."

"Oh, I changed cell phones awhile ago."

Wally paused. "Oh."

The implications of what she had just said hit her, and she smiled embarrassedly. "Um… please come in."

"Can, uh…?" Wally said, nodding in Dick and Shayera's direction.

"Oh. Yes, of course, of course," she said, gesturing for them to come inside. The man stood behind her seemed less than pleased with the situation, not even moving aside for the trio as they tried to enter. Mary put her hand to her forehead.

"I don't know where my head is these days. This is Stanley. Stanley, this is my son, Wally."

Stanley nodded. "I gathered." A bronzed hand shot out to Wally, palm open. Slowly, Wally took his hand and shook it. Stanley seemed to be trying to squeeze Wally's hand in some attempt to establish his superiority. Dick smiled inwardly. If only he knew just whose hand he was trying to crush.

Wally, meanwhile, just seemed confused as to why Stanley wasn't letting go of his hand.

"Uh… nice to meet you."

Mary stepped forward. "Stanley. Could you show…" she paused as she looked at Dick and Shayera.

Dick shook himself out of his musings. "Oh. Dick Grayson." He cast a nervous glance in Shayera's direction, who seemed more than a little displeased with Mary's attitude towards her son.

"Shayera Hol," she said plainly.

Stanley let go of Wally's hand as he focused his attention on her. "Is that Spanish?"

"I…" she glanced over at her two companions, and seeing similar pleading looks on both faces, just sighed. "Yes. It's Spanish."

For whatever reason, Stanley seemed to like this little revelation. "Really? Which part?" he said, gesturing for her to enter. She paused for the briefest of moments before taking a deep breath and entering, Dick following close behind. Although he didn't know her that well, and had no doubt she could handle herself, he didn't like the idea of leaving her alone with such a sleaze. He looked over at Wally before entering the living room.

"Just tell us when you're ready to go, okay?"

The speedster nodded, and, satisfied with the response, Dick followed Shayera into the living room. Wally sighed and looked over at his mother.

"Uh… so…" he began, thankful that his hands were in his pockets and free of nervous gestures. "How about we make some coffee or something for the guys?"

Mary smiled. "Yes, okay."

"Great."

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"So. How do you know Mary?" Shayera asked, the constant questions about her Hispanic upbringing beginning to grate on her.

She really, _really _didn't like this man.

If she was honest, she was secretly grateful that Dick was here. While she could easily take care of anything _Stanley_ could throw her way, she would prefer not to add broken bones to the obviously already awkward equation that was Wally and his mother.

"Oh, we're… just friends."

Dick leaned forward from where he was sat on the sofa. "You seemed pretty upset about Wally being Mary's son."

"Well… it was quite a shock."

Shayera cocked an eyebrow. "Hasn't she even mentioned him to you?"

He shook his head emphatically. "No. Not once." His features darkened almost imperceptibly. "Not once…"

"Maybe you're not as good friends as you thought."

"Mmm? Oh, no, we're… quite close." He smiled, and Shayera tried as hard as she could not to shudder. She wasn't sure if she did a good job of it. "We have a… 'No strings' arrangement," he said, looking over at Dick in such a manner as to suggest he should be impressed.

Seeing this look, Dick raised his eyebrows. He opened his mouth, but then decided to close it again, clearly finding it very difficult to contribute much to the conversation.

He took another breath.

"So… tell me, Stanley. Do you own a yacht, by any chance?"

Shayera frowned in confusion, and shot Dick a look. He shrugged in a 'how could I _not_ ask?' way. She rolled her eyes. Dick and Wally had more in common than perhaps this former protégé of Batman was willing to admit.

"Why, yes I do," Stanley said. His gaze locked firmly on Shayera. "She's called 'The Mermaid's Tail'," he continued, raising his eyebrows slightly to emphasise how much Shayera should be all over him by now.

"Well, aren't you special," Shayera muttered.

A quick burst of laughter came from Dick's side of the sofa, but it quickly became a coughing fit. Shayera looked over at him. His hand was conveniently covering his entire mouth, masking his expression from Stanley.

Apparently oblivious to how much distaste Shayera held for him, he leant forward and took her hand in his. "You'll have to come and see it sometime," he said, putting on his best husky voice.

After fighting down the urge to break Stanley's face in seven different ways, Shayera glanced at the door to the kitchen, wishing Wally would hurry up so they could leave.

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"Where's the coffee?"

"The second cupboard on your right."

"Okay."

He put in the appropriate teaspoons of coffee granules in three mugs of boiling hot water, but paused on the forth.

"Uh… how does…" he grimaced slightly, "…_Stanley_ take his coffee?"

"Black."

In the coffee went. On to the next mug. He paused again.

"… How do-"

"Milk, no s-"

"-no sugar, right, right…"

Slipping into speed mode, he quickly prepared everyone's coffees, pouring in milk and sugar where appropriate and stirring quickly but cautiously.

"Wally?"

"Uh… yeah?"

"How are things? With you?"

He placed the teaspoon on the tabletop. Some of the milky brown liquid left a small puddle beneath the spoon. Wally turned around and leant against the counter.

"They're good. The League's keeping me busy."

"How's that girl you were going out with? What was her name? Rebecca?"

Wally frowned. He hadn't seen Rebecca since before the fight with Dr Ivo's android.

"We uh… we broke up. I'm going out with a reporter now. Linda Park."

"Oh."

Silence descended upon them, the only noise the faint murmurings coming from the living room. Stanley laughed loudly at something, and Wally winced.

"And you?" he asked quickly, not allowing the laughter to linger for too long. "How's stuff with you?"

"They're nice. I… bought this lovely reclining chair the other week. Very comfortable."

"Right."

"Have you got one?"

"What? A reclining chair? Yeah."

Stanley's laughter once again filled the air.

Wally took a deep breath through his nose. "So, uh… how long have you, uh…" he glanced over at the living room.

"Oh. A few months now, I think."

He nodded slowly. "…Okay. And, uh…" he scratched the back of his neck. "… you never mentioned me?"

"…it… never came up."

Wally paused.

"'_It never came up'? I'm you're son! I would think that kind of stuff would come up!"_

"Oh. Okay."

A loud Thanagarian curse reverberated through the room, quickly followed by a resounding thump noise. Both Wally and his mother exchanged a look before making their way into the living room.

The coffee was left to go cold.

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"You didn't have to hit the guy."

"Yes, I did. You saw what he was reaching for."

"Actually, no. What _was _he reaching for?"

Shayera gave Dick a look. "You're an ass. I've been trying to decide what you are, and that's it. You're an ass."

"Is that your final decision? Because you can't go back on it. Once you've labelled me an ass, I'll forever be an ass."

"Why is Dick saying 'ass' so much?"

The two looked up from where they sat on the bench to see Wally approaching, three hot dogs entwined in his hands. Shayera looked over at Dick.

"Because that's what he is."

"Hey, now," Wally said, roughly forcing his way in-between the two. "You said _I _was an ass." He mock pouted. "We can't _both _be asses."

"Says who?"

"The… the rules."

"What rules?"

Wally glanced at Dick in a confused manner. "Uh… the rules about… calling people stuff."

Shayera stared at them. Just… stared.

"Right."

Sensing a certain amount of tension, Dick suddenly sprang to his feet. "I think I'll… go to the bathroom now."

The Fastest Man Alive let out a muffled noise of protest, his hot dog already half way into his mouth. He lifted Dick's hot dog so that it was under the protector of Bludhaven's nose.

"Wally. I'm going to the bathroom. I'm not taking a hot dog to the bathroom."

"But it'll go cold."

Dick clenched his teeth and looked desperately at the bathroom. He began hopping on one foot slightly. "That's… a risk I'll have to take." And with that, he took off at a speed usually reserved for the Flash.

After looking at Shayera and shrugging in a 'whatever' manner, Wally handed over her hot dog.

"So what did you and Stanley talk about?"

"Things…" Shayera said, idly taking the Gherkins off her hot dog.

Wally's eyes widened in horror. "What are you doing?" he almost yelled, sending bits of chewed hot dog everywhere.

"What? I don't like them."

"But they're… but they're…!" Wally panted, and Shayera was afraid he might start hyperventilating when he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay… okay. Just… hand over the Gherkins."

She sighed. "Wally, I…"

"Gherkins. Now."

The redheaded Thanagarian handed over the Gherkins. Wally cautiously took the green vegetable slices and placed them on his own hot dog. He brought the bread roll up and paused as he noticed Shayera looking at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Uh… yes?"

"Are things always like that?" she asked, the concern in her eyes and voice evident.

He shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much. I don't know why I've always liked Gherkins so much, but-"

"Not that, Wally, I…" she sighed and shook her head, going back to her hot dog. Silently, she began to munch on the mixture of meat, bread, and oh-so-many different sauces that Wally insisted on putting on hot dogs. The two sat on the bench and watched a train howl through the station. The people on the opposite platform popped in an out of Shayera's field of vision as the train roared past. Then, the train disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, vanishing around the corner, heading for places unknown.

"It, uh… it is, yeah."

Shayera stopped in mid-chew to look at her friend, who was concentrating on the food he held in his hands.

"I don't know why. We just never really… connected. I couldn't talk to her, she couldn't talk to me."

She nodded.

"And my Dad didn't exactly help either," Wally added almost inaudibly, with a trace of bitterness in his voice that she had only ever heard once before; during the Thanagarian invasion, in the Batcave.

"Ah, that's better!"

Dick sidled around the back of the bench and quickly sat down. A squelching noise made his eyes widen briefly before he realised what he had done. A small grin spread across Wally's face.

"Hope you brought a spare pair of pants."

Distraught, the former Boy Wonder just shook his head.

As Wally laughed and Dick began yelling about how it wasn't funny, Shayera sat back in the bench.

_Well played, Wally West. Well played._

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(A/N: I watched _Lost in Translation _recently. Can you tell? That film really influenced how Wally's conversation with his mother went. Also, it's a fantastic film. If you ever get a chance to watch it, DO!

I don't know much about Wally's relationship with his mother (other than what I've read on the web), but the feeling I _did _get was distance. That while she did love Wally (in some way), there was just something not quite right in how they interacted with one another.

Stanley isn't based on anyone in the comics. Just think of a perverted Dick Van Dyke, and you're kind of there.

…

That sounded more twisted than I intended.

And for once I disagree with Wally on something; I absolutely _hate _Gherkins.

Review!)


	7. Familiar

Disclaimer: I don't own _Justice League Unlimited _or _Teen Titans_.

_**Send Me on My Way**_

_**Chapter Seven: Familiar**_

It was wonderfully quiet. There was the occasional movement, but she barely detected it. All that was around her was this blissful… nothingness. But not an unpleasant, stale nothingness. This was something she could lose herself in, and gladly so. It just felt so-

"Shayera?"

She scrunched up her face.

"Shayera? Are you asleep?"

Something came uncomfortably close to her face.

"Are you asleep?"

Slowly – and _very _reluctantly – Shayera opened her eyes, blinking a few times to clear the sleep dust from her eyelids. Her head was resting against the window, giving her a great vantage point to see all the buildings and skyscrapers as they flew by. At least, she _would _have been looking at the skyscrapers if there were any in Jump City. While there _were_ tall buildings in the Teen Titans' city, there were never any that made one gape with awe along the lines of the Empire State Building or the Metro Tower.

"I _was_," she muttered irritably, rubbing her eyes to clear the bleariness. She looked over and saw Wally grinning inanely, obviously happy to have irritated her. After glaring at Wally, she took in her surroundings. Ah, that's right; they were in Cyborg's car. What did he call it? The T-car?

Cyborg had been pretty prompt picking them up from the train station. The way Wally and Dick had been talking about him on the train, she thought they would have been waiting for him to arrive for hours.

"Wally, you realise you haven't actually matured over the years? That you've gotten _worse?"_ Cyborg asked, looking at him in the rear-view mirror.

"What can I say? You guys were a bad influence on me," he said, leaning back in his chair while resting his head on his interlocked fingers. "And then I went to the Justice League, and they just made me _worse…_"

Shayera's head whipped around from the scenery to look at Wally. "Hey! How did we make you worse?"

"Oh, don't deny it, Shayera. You guys were out to corrupt me from day one."

"I- what!"

Wally just closed his eyes and pretended to go to sleep. Shayera could hear a distinct snicker coming from the front passenger seat. With a scowl, she promptly kicked it, silencing Dick Grayson.

"Hey, hey!" Cyborg yelled angrily, struggling to keep his eyes on the road. "If you kids can't behave, at least wait until you get out of my baby!"

Now _that _was something Wally and Dick had warned her about; Cyborg's near disturbing love for his car, which he made from scratch. She had been rather impressed with that fact, and, having seen the vehicle, was even more so now, but one thing that Wally had told her stuck in her mind:

"_No matter what you, do **not**, I repeat, do **not **compliment the T-car. He will **never **leave you alone. Ever."_

And so, she kept her mouth shut. Cyborg peeked at her in the mirror. "So, uh… Shayera. What do you think of the T-car?"

Her green eyes went wide. Wally's snapped open. Dick just smirked.

"Uh… well, it's…" she looked over at the speedster on her right for support, who just shrugged, a panicky look on his face. She was so going to kick his ass later.

"It's… nice."

Wally winced and looked out the window. Dick let out a small chuckle and shook his head.

"Really?" Cyborg replied, his eyes lighting up with interest. "Well, you've got good taste. This here T-car is the most efficient road vehicle on the planet; it has 10 bi-polar…"

Shayera let out a silent sigh and looked out the window as Cyborg went on about his 'baby'.

It was going to be a long stay.

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Wally grinned and loudly clapped his hands together as he entered the Rec Room. Or the rumpus room. Or the living room. He had no idea what to call it; never did. He just knew he came in here and relaxed, whether that be in the kitchen taste testing Starfire's new dishes, playing Gamestation with Cyborg and Beast Boy, or trying to complete crosswords faster than Dick could manage. Or, he thought with a fond smile, enjoying Raven's company.

It didn't matter. All he knew was that for a very important part of his life, this Tower was home, and he enjoyed most of it in this room. He quickly made his way over to the kitchen and made himself a triple mocha latte, reaching into cupboards and pushing buttons as though he had never left.

"Who else wants latte's?" he asked loudly, his grin almost outgrowing the width of his face.

Cyborg's hand shot up instantly as he entered with the others. "Only if you're makin' it!" He bent down to Shayera and put his hand on the other side of his face, as though telling her some great secret. "No-one makes lattes like Wally. They're insanely good." He hopped up onto one of the stools next to the kitchen counter.

The grin on Wally's face widened, if that were humanly possible.

"Dick? Shayera? You want a piece of Wally's latte?"

Dick grimaced. "Uh… no. You just made that sound way more disgusting than it needed to be." With the grace of an acrobat, Dick flopped onto the sofa and turned on the TV, keeping the volume at an inoffensive level.

Shayera just shrugged and slipped onto the stool on Cyborg's left. "I guess it couldn't hurt."

A look almost akin to horror crossed Cyborg's features. "'Couldn't hurt'? _'Couldn't hurt'?_" He looked at Shayera while pointing a thumb at Wally. "Girl, have you even _had_ one of the Flashman's lattes?"

The speedster cast his gaze upwards. "I made one for her once, but she fell asleep and got attacked by some telepathic nightmare guy."

Shayera shook her head and looked over at Cyborg. "So, to answer your question, no."

A wry smile crossed Cyborg's lips, and his entire attitude seemingly changed with the gesture. It was as if one minute he was this child, excited to have one of his brothers home, and now he was merely living another normal day.

These young superheroes were really weird.

"So… where have you guys been?"

"Well… first we went to Jay Garrick's house-" Wally began, but Shayera put up a hand to interrupt him.

"If I remember correctly, Wally, there was a certain phase of our trip that happened before that? Something involving a _car_?"

Sheepishness crawled over the speedster's face. "Maybe…"

"And… what happened during this… phase, Wally?"

"I kinda… sorta…"

She cupped her hand around her ear. "What was that, Wally? I can't hear you."

Even Dick was interested now, paying little attention to the chef on the screen rattling on about snails.

"… I…" Wally turned around. "Mayhavecrashedthecarbydrivingitwithmylegs coffee anyone?"

Shayera smirked. "Why, certainly."

Cyborg and Dick looked at each other, and promptly burst out laughing. Even though she couldn't see his face, Shayera could tell that Wally was blushing a shade of red that would match his costume, if he were wearing it.

"Man… you… drove with it with your _legs_?" Cyborg guffawed.

"It was just a joke, okay? Anyway, we went other places anyway, so you should shut up about the driving thing now, like right now."

The half robot hero waved a hand. "Okay, okay…" He wiped away a tear before taking a deep breath and trying to continue. "So, uh…" another little giggle escaped, at a pitch much too high for someone of Cyborg's bulk. "…where else did you go?" he asked, looking at Shayera.

Feeling somewhat lighter, Shayera smiled before responding. "We went to see Jay and Joan Garrick first."

"Ah, the original Flash. Did you have Joan's apple pie?"

All three men in the room simultaneously stopped what they were doing and gazed into the distance with fond smiles, as though remembering some wonderful event. After noting this sudden change, Shayera just nodded.

"Yeah, I did."

"And?"

Even Wally seemed interested. She had been suspiciously _schtum _about the whole 'greatest apple pie in the world' thing. Shayera shot a teasing glance in Wally's direction so that only Cyborg could see.

"They weren't that great."

Wally nearly dropped the coffee mug he was handing to Cyborg. "You _what?"_

Shayera shrugged. "I just thought… they weren't fantastic. They weren't _bad_… you must have built up the hype too much."

A knowing looked crossed Cyborg's face. "The 'apple pie equals no war' thing?"

"He's done it before?"

"Too much."

"Hang on a second…" Wally said, scratching his chin as he exaggeratedly studied Shayera's expression. "You were messing with me!"

"I was not."

"Yes, you were. Look, I can see it your eyes! For shame." His voice lowered to a whisper and his eyes thinned. "_For shame."_

Cyborg shook his head and sipped his coffee. He recoiled instantly, looking surprised and satisfied at the same time. "Damn, man! How the hell do you get it so _good?_"

"Joan makes great apple pie; I make good coffee." His pale blue eyes lit up with inspiration. "Imagine having them _together._"

Cyborg stopped mid sip. "Don't go there, man."

"No, but just consider it… that would be-"

The doors to the room slid open, revealing Beast Boy and a very tired looking Raven. The green changeling, oblivious to any weariness on his companions' part, continued to jump around, wildly gesturing to add to some point he was making.

"…and the hat goes on the other side of the elephant, okay? I just-" he stopped in mid-sentence when he saw Wally behind the kitchen counter.

"Wally! Dude!"

He leapt over the table and wrapped his arms around the speedster, turning into a bear as he did so.

Wally made a muffled noise of protest.

"Uh… Gar? I appreciate the hug, but… bear fur _really _stinks," Wally said slowly, his voice muffled by the green fur.

Beast Boy looked down at his captive and an embarrassed look instantly crossed his face. It was quite interesting, actually; Shayera had never seen a bear look embarrassed before. There was a quick blur of colour, and a young green skinned teen stood where the bear had been.

"Heh… sorry about that."

"Ah, it's okay," Wally said, waving a dismissive hand. "I would've done it if you hadn't."

On the other side of the room, Dick rose to his feet. "What? No hug for me?"

Beast Boy frowned. "Uh… no."

"Thank God. How are you guys?"

"It's all good." His eyes widened and he turned to Wally excitedly. "Oh! Dude! Dude! We have an iced mocha machine! And a slushy machine!"

The speedster's eyes were quickly overcome with the same frantic excitement. "You… My… God. The possibilities." He looked Beast Boy in the eyes. "Well? C'mon, where is it?"

"Follow me, maestro."

And with that, the two jokesters of their respective teams were gone, arm in arm, practically skipping out of the room like little schoolgirls. A welcome silence descended upon the room, the only noise the faint twittering of the television.

"Well," Cyborg began, finishing his coffee and slamming the mug down on the table, "I've got to get those repairs for the T-ship done. Nice to see you guys."

Dick stood. "Hey, is-"

"She's out on a mission."

"Oh. When-"

"Tomorrow."

"Oh. While I wait, can I-"

"Follow me."

Dick switched off the TV, and followed Cyborg out of the room to the T-ship launch bay, discussing new types of power converters or some such.

Shayera really didn't know too much about that sort of thing. On Earth, at least.

"I see you've been taken in by Wally's coffee."

The Thanagarian looked around to see Raven with a wry smile on her face, pouring herself a cup of tea.

"What can I say?" she responded, shrugging. "He makes good coffee." She cocked an eyebrow at the empathy. "Don't you think so?"

"I… don't really have much of a tolerance for caffeine. It messes with my meditation routine."

"Oh."

A silence fell between the two.

"So…" Raven began awkwardly, "on a vacation with Wally. That must take… some kind of psychotic illness."

Shayera smiled. "It wasn't exactly by choice. And besides," she paused to take sip of Wally's divine coffee, "he's not that bad."

Raven stirred her tea. "I suppose."

"Well, you must have thought so too. You dated him, after all."

She slothfully gave her a 'look'. "Remember, that was a very… _very_… long time ago." She went back to her tea.

"Six or seven years, right?"

The empathy paused in her stirring. "Right." She dumped the teabag in the trash and turned to face Shayera, leaning against the counter.

"Why'd you do it, anyway?"

Raven cocked a curious purple eyebrow. "What?"

"Go out with Wally? I mean, I'm his friend, and sometimes even I can't stand him."

She closed her eyes and shrugged, tucking a piece of stray purple hair behind her ear. "Well, as you said, he wasn't _that _bad. He could even be quite charming-"

A resounding belch echoed down the corridor, followed by a stream of Beast Boy's giggling.

"Dude! Nice one!"

Raven sighed as she looked at Shayera. "-at times."

Shayera gave her a sympathetic smile.

She sipped her coffee.

Raven sipped her tea.

"Raven?"

The empath seemed to pause at the use of her name. "Yes?"

"What do you know about… Wally's father?"

"His father?"

Shayera nodded silently.

A thoughtful look creased Raven's features. "He never really talked about his parents. At least, not his biological ones. It was hard to get him to shut up if it was about his Uncle Barry or Aunt Iris, though."

The Thanagarian bowed her head. "So you don't know anything, either?"

"Well… I know that his father wasn't particularly kind to him."

Shayera's green eyes instantly came up to meet Raven's. "He told you that?"

"Not… in so many words. But I'm an empath. Whenever the topic of his father came up, something would happen in his mind and he wouldn't acknowledge it. The only time I've sensed that is with children who were abused by their parents."

Shock crossed Shayera's features. "You think that Wally's father-"

"No. At least, not likely. Physical abuse leaves a very distinct emotional scar, and I didn't detect anything like that from Wally. What I got was... more up here," she said, pointing to her head. "In this line of work, you get to see it a lot. Parents, Spouses… it's all the same thing. The victim becomes so used to the constant verbal and psychological abuse to the point where he or she actually starts to believe it."

"And you think that's what happened with Wally?"

Raven nodded and took a sip of her tea. "I think most of his immaturity stems from his father's treatment of him. For instance, have you ever noticed how he'll sometimes seem to act quite…?"

"Stupid?"

Raven nodded again. "But then, at some random point, he'll do something that genuinely surprises you with how… innovative or just generally impressive it is?"

"I… yes," Shayera replied, slightly amazed. "Little things, mostly."

Like the Flash ring that contained his costume.

Or the way he could change the frequency of his communicator to monitor police bands without batting an eyelid.

Or, as much as she pained to admit it, beating her at chess.

"But then he'll do something almost instantly afterwards to make you downgrade your opinion of him again, won't he?"

Shayera nodded.

He had made a stupid joke the second he had showed her the Flash ring.

He had made a big display of clumsily dropping his communicator.

And he had fallen off his chair after playing chess against her.

But then again, Superman did that as well.

Raven shrugged. "But, I have to admit… he's getting better."

"He's got good friends. That's another sign, I suppose. He makes strong ties to his friends to make a sort of…"

"Surrogate family. You catch on quick."

Another belch echoed down the corridor. Followed by another. And another. As Shayera listened more closely, she realised they were doing the alphabet.

"A!"

That was Wally's voice.

"B!"

Beast Boy. A chuckle.

"C!"

Wally again. A giggle.

"D!"

And the cycle continued.

Raven looked Shayera in the eyes. "Of course, a lot of the immaturity is just him."

"I gathered."

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"Okay! Gather round, ladies and gentlemen, for the ultimate gaming experience of your life; '_Super Zombie Kickback 5: The Final Inferno'!_"

Shayera frowned. "That's it?"

An amazed look crossed both Cyborg and Beast Boy's face. The half robot turned to Wally, who was sat on his left.

"Wally. A quick word."

"Yes?" the speedster replied, a barely contained grin on his face.

"Now… when your friend Shayera over there says 'that's it?' that implies, to me at least, that she has played a game that makes _'Super Zombie Kickback 5: The Final Inferno'_ seem not quite as enjoyable. Would that be accurate?"

"It would indeed."

"And… would you happen to have said game with you?"

A disappointed look crossed Wally's face, and he snapped his fingers. "Oh, dude…" He brought up the game from behind his person and grinned. "I did."

Beast Boy's jaw hit the ground, and Cyborg squealed like a little girl.

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod! Is… is that…?"

Wally nodded smugly. _"'Super Zombie Kickback 7: The Ultimate Payback'_? Why, I think it is."

Raven cocked a curious eyebrow. "7? What happened to 6?"

"SSSHHH!"

She rolled her eyes and returned to her book.

"You ladies gonna spend all day staring at it, or are you gonna-?"

Before Wally could even finish the sentence, the game was gone, and with fits of laughter that were becoming increasingly insane, Cyborg put the CD in the Gamestation and turned it on. The half robot and the green changeling parked themselves directly in front of the screen, crossing their legs and letting their mouths gape open in wonder at the highly realistic cut scenes.

Smiling and stretching in his chair, Wally turned to Raven and Shayera. "Say… where's Dick?"

Shayera shrugged.

"Starfire got back early," Raven said from behind her book, and Wally nodded.

"Ah. Gotcha." He turned to Cyborg and Beast Boy. "Hey guys. Controllers."

They both turned in unison. "This is… _four players?"_ Beast Boy managed, looking as though he were about to faint.

Wally nodded, and Raven sighed.

"Garfield. Breath."

The green changeling took several gulps of air, calming himself. Cyborg, his eyes still glued to the screen, haphazardly grabbed two controllers and tossed them over his shoulder, missing Wally and Shayera completely. They clattered to the floor on the other side of the room.

Shayera sighed and gave Wally 'the look'.

"How long do we have to sit here?"

He shrugged. "Ah, let the kids have their fun. It's only eight. We'll be out on the town by nine, don't worry."

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At ten, the heroes finally made their way into Jump City. Shayera looked around her, taking stock of the heroes. None of them were wearing holographic disguises. Hell, even Wally was out in his Flash costume. He had insisted that Shayera de-hex the spell that Zatanna cast on her to hide her hair colour and wings, but she had declined.

Repeatedly.

Starfire and Dick had remained behind at the Tower, their argument apparently not lasting long. And, as Beast Boy told her, no-one really liked being around the two when they were making kissy faces at each other. So they hadn't invited them out.

And, as they entered the club that was their destination, Shayera couldn't help but think how Nightwing wouldn't exactly fit in here. Neither would Starfire, for that matter.

As the heroes made their way through the crowd and to the bar, Shayera was amazed by what little attention they were getting. No-one gawking or asking for autographs. No murmurings. They all simply went on dancing and talking as if they were just ordinary people.

It felt good.

Shayera now realised that she probably _could_ have come out with no disguise, and no-one would have hassled her. She shrugged.

_Spilt milk, Shayera, spilt milk._

Somehow, she had managed to get to the bar first, alongside Cyborg. Something was delaying the others, but Shayera couldn't tell what. Cyborg leaned forward and yelled the order of drinks to the bartender. Shayera didn't mind being spoken for when it came to buying drinks. She had a feeling that Cyborg wasn't a lightweight when it came to alcohol.

Someone unceremoniously bumped into her, and she turned irritably to see Beast Boy, who was laughing nervously.

"Heh! Sorry about that!" he yelled over the din.

"No problem. What happened?"

"It's nothing. Some guy thought I stepped on his foot is all."

"And did you?"

"Nah, but it doesn't matter."

Shayera slowly nodded, receiving her mug of beer from Cyborg. She gave him a quick nod of thanks and turned her attention to the crowd.

"Which guy was it?"

Beast Boy frowned. "Huh?"

"Which guy pushed you?"

"Oh… uh… that guy," he said innocently, pointing to the man on the other side of the club.

She nodded, as though sizing him up. He was pretty big. Not quite the man-tank that the guy in the Bludhaven club was, but still quite big. Bigger than Cyborg, anyway. She finished off her beer and belched.

Wally, who was in the middle of a conversation with Raven, suddenly turned to look at Shayera. He watched in horror as she snapped the handle off the mug and handed it to a confused Beast Boy. He moved in slow motion through the crowd as Shayera tossed the glass part of the mug.

Every member of the Teen Titans watched it sail through the air before it hit its target.

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Sunlight peeked through the curtains of the spare room, the gap in-between them positioned in such a way that the light was directly on Shayera's eyes. A groan sounded from the bed, and she rolled over. That way was no good either. Someone had had the bright idea of making the curtains a pale yellow, which only served to light up the room further when the sun hit them.

After forcing out another groan, Shayera rolled herself out of the bed, letting one leg drape onto the floor, slowly and slothfully followed by the other.

She had been here for two days, and already her routine was all but gone. Time was that she would have been up to see the sunrise. Dick had told her that the sunrise from the Tower was an amazing thing to behold from the rooftop. But the first night she had arrived, she had instigated a bar brawl.

She hadn't really felt like getting up early the morning after that. And last night… she didn't really do anything that would exert her. She just lolled about the Tower, enjoying the… nothingness that was on her shoulders. It was something that, while pleasurable, she decided that she couldn't live in such a way. She would need things to occupy her, things to do.

Superman had once made a small joke about how she would never be able to handle retirement, and Shayera couldn't have agreed more. Even the _idea_ of it was repulsive to her.

After a quick shower and a change of clothes (the Titan's guest rooms were admittedly very luxurious, despite bad curtain placement and colour choice), Shayera made her way up to the main lounge room. She still had no idea what to call it. She had asked Wally, and he said that even _he _had no idea what to call it. She had asked Dick, and he had called it the Rec room. Starfire called it the Rumpus room. Raven had called it the common room. And Cyborg and Beast Boy called it something very long and complicated that Shayera couldn't remember.

No-one was around. Shayera ate breakfast in silence, staring off into space as she munched away at her Cheerios. After that, she went for a walk around the Tower, looking for some company, or at least something to distract her attention.

As she made her way around the maze of a building, she heard the lives of the teen heroes going on around her. Younger Titans, amongst them Kid Flash and Robin, were training outside. At least, Beast Boy and Cyborg were _attempting _to get them to train. Every time Cyborg's back was turned, Beast Boy would make a face or do something that would make the younger Titans laugh. Cyborg would become annoyed, threaten to leave, and eventually calm down. Beast Boy would then make another face, and the cycle would repeat again.

Shayera moved on. They obviously didn't need any help from her. She wasn't sure if she could handle trainees anyway; she had never been very good at that sort of thing on Thanagar.

Wally's voice echoed down the corridor, if slightly muffled, and Shayera headed in that direction. She came to Raven's room, which was labelled as such no less, and heard the two talking about something or other. She heard Bart's name come up now and again, but mostly it seemed to be small talk between friends. A reluctant hand came up to knock on the door, but as she heard a bout of laughter come from the room, she decided against it. Wally hadn't seen these people in a while. She didn't want to make him feel awkward.

As she wandered down the next corridor, she passed a glass observation window that looked into the training area. She saw Dick and Starfire in full superhero regalia in the middle of a sparring match. A wry smile managed to fight its way onto Shayera's lips. Trust an apprentice of Batman's to think of sparring as flirting. Of course, _she_ occasionally flirted in much the same way, too. Shayera's attention was drawn to Starfire's red hair.

What was it with this guy and people with red hair? Wally, Starfire, Speedy, Batgirl… very strange.

Starfire slammed Nightwing to the mat with a loud thump. She stood over him with hands on hips, smugly triumphant. With a smirk, Dick locked his legs between hers and knocked her to the ground. They both lay on the ground, both breathing heavy from exertion.

Shayera knew when things were going to get 'hot and heavy' as Wally would say, so she made a discreet exit, not wanting to intrude.

That was everyone in the Tower. She decided to make her way to the roof and go for a quick flight (she had removed the spell hiding her wings the day before) around the city. But she passed by something that made her pause. A door with a name she had never heard before engraved on it.

_Terra? Who's Terra?_

After a quick check up and down the corridor, Shayera opened the door and stepped inside. She decided only to take a quick look, and then leave. Perhaps it was a deceased team-mate, and if that was the case, Shayera certainly didn't want to intrude.

The room was huge. Small lights peppered the black surface of the ceiling, giving it the appearance of stars in the night sky. A semi-circular sofa, not unlike the one in the rumpus/Rec room, sat facing the large window that encompassed an entire side of the room. A view of the city was laid out before it, offering a breathtaking view of it for anyone willing to sit and look. Off to the left in a small nook of the room was a double bed which looked just as soft and comfortable as the Titans themselves.

Shayera's eyes were attracted to a shining object. She looked over to the sofa where she saw a table in the center of the U-shaped furniture. The only objects on it were a lava lamp as a centrepiece and a silver heart shaped box. More timidly than was usual for her, Shayera made her way around the sofa and sat, opening the lid. Inside the lid was a mirror, Shayera's own face staring back at her. There was something so gentle about the reflection, as though it were distorting her image for the better. It was a strange feeling.

She quickly closed it and walked away, leaving the room behind her both figuratively and literally. Something propelled her legs faster and faster, until she found herself running up the stairway to the roof. Before she knew it, she was leaping off the edge of the Tower, spreading her wings out just as she began to fall.

Shayera gracefully bobbed and weaved through the air, grateful for the freedom it afforded her. She longed to feel the wind rushing past her face. The sea air invigorated her senses, and she dove down almost vertically towards the sparkling deep blue below her. As she reached the water, she quickly diverted her path, and flew straight across it at such a close distance she was causing small waves with every beat of her wings.

Her wobbling reflection looked back at her as she raced across the surface of the water. With a smile reminiscent of a child, Shayera reached out and ran her hand along the water, taking a small sense of glee from the way the water parted for her hand, propelling the water in a trail behind her. She looked back to see it sparkling in the air as it reflected the sun and fell back into the water. The Tower was getting smaller and smaller now.

With another beat of her wings, she propelled herself upwards, continuing up… up… up…

She was just below the clouds now. Her green eyes surveyed the area below her, looking down at the city as a whole, not just the bits and pieces everyone else saw when they walked through it.

Shayera stretched out her arms and wings. She lifted her head and took a deep breath, the air tasting fresher here than anywhere else she could remember.

Her gaze fell downwards once again to the city. From there, they went up until they met the forest that surrounded about three quarters of Jump City. She had been there once herself, although that was on business rather than pleasure. What she _did _remember was that the view from said forest wasn't exactly hard on the eye. Her decision made, Shayera glided away.

The view was as breathtaking as she remembered. The sun gleamed against the towering skyscrapers, which strangely seemed taller from a distance than they did up close. She got comfortable on a ridge overlooking the city, brushing aside any rocks or twigs.

Shayera wasn't very aware of the time, her only indicator being the sun as it made its' way across the sky.

Her ears pricked up as she heard someone approach. However, her battle instincts didn't take over. She barely even moved.

"Hey."

It was Cyborg.

It was Cyborg?

"Um… hi."

He made himself comfortable next to her. "I thought that was you makin' a hasty exit from the Tower."

She smiled and shrugged slothfully. "When you've got to fly, you've got to fly."

"I guess so."

He didn't ask if she was okay. He didn't make idle small talk. He just sat.

And Shayera couldn't be more grateful.

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(A/N: Told you this would be fun.

Well, even if it wasn't fun for you, it was great fun for me to write, as you can probably tell by the length. I haven't had a writing attack like that in a while.

Just to clarify, this is the animated Titans, since I know little about the comic versions (just what's in the Flash comics, which ain't much except Nightwing). I've got _Teen Titans _as being set before _Batman: The Animated Series_ in my own personal little fan fiction continuity, so that's how that works.

Anyway, review!)


	8. Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice

Disclaimer: I don't own _Justice League Unlimited._

_**Send Me on My Way**_

**_Chapter Eight: Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice…_**

Green Arrow, otherwise known as eccentric billionaire Oliver Queen, was bored. Bored, bored, and bored. When he had agreed to fill in while some of the original seven where away, he had had no idea just how many meetings there would be. And just how damned _long _and _boring _they were. They didn't even bother to spruce up the meeting room for the more bored Leaguers to distract themselves with. It was just a dark, dark room.

Of course, sat at the table was a dark, dark man, so Ollie couldn't exactly fault it. Still, he was bored.

Bored. Bored. _Bored._

Funny word, bored. Like board. So many words that can be put in front of it, too. Blackboard. Chalkboard. Whiteboard.

Ollie wondered if Batman had a chalkboard, or something similar.

He smiled.

A Bat-board.

Then there would be Bat-chalk, Bat-erasers… Come to think of it, there was so many Bat-related paraphernalia just _waiting _to be made. Bat-brand clothing. Bat-hats. Bat-mugs. Bat-forks. Bat-picnic basket. Bat-bats.

"Arrow?"

Bat-… wait.

Ollie looked up at Batman, and soon realised that everyone around the table was looking at him.

"Um… yes?"

"Am I boring you?"

"What? No… Pffft… no, you've got my attention, Bats. Go on, please."

After lingering on him just long enough to make him feel uncomfortable, Batman went on to rattle on about some other kinds of expenses. Ollie began to drift again, not even _trying _to listen this time. The first few meetings, he had tried at least in _some _way to listen to what the caped crusader (or anyone else during the meetings) was talking about. The only one who remotely caught his attention was J'onn, but that was simply because he didn't talk much, and when he did, it was usually about something damned interesting.

That had happened _once_ in the entire week he had been coming to these meetings.

_Once_!

His eyes slowly drifted around the room, going from one person to another, seeing some people with the lights on (Wonder Woman, Dinah), some with the lights flickering on and off (Superman, J'onn), and some who just weren't paying any attention whatsoever (Kyle Rayner, the Green Lantern filling in for John).

In fact, Rayner wasn't just ignoring Bats. He was doing something else entirely. He was sketching something on to on the pages of the book of charts they were all given at the beginning of the meeting. The pencil he was using was from a pot that was in the middle of the table that was full of different writing implements.

Bruce had wanted to talk about shares, or something. That kind of thing had never interested Ollie, even though he understood them fully (it was sort of a prerequisite of being a billionaire). In any case, Rayner certainly wasn't using the booklets out of interest in the figures.

Ollie was thankful for the one-way eye lenses he wore, for it left him free to stare at Rayner's work while facing Batman. He reached forward and plucked a pencil from the pot, trying to make it seem as though he were going to start taking notes.

_My ass._

He surreptitiously wrote something on his book and slowly but surely slid it over to Rayner, who was sat on his right. The Green Lantern glanced over at Arrow's message.

_What are you drawing?_

The young hero smiled, but quickly placed the expression under wraps, not wanting to be caught by Batman. He applied the finishing touches to his masterpiece, and slowly slid it over just enough so that Ollie could see it.

Ollie's eyes widened as he saw the sketch, and he tried to hold back the serious case of the giggles that overcame him.

It was a picture of Batman with a particularly grumpy look on his face and stink lines coming from him. Around him were the other Leaguers, all of them pinching their noses and scrunching up their faces in disgust. Above Batman was a speech bubble that read:

"_Blah, blah, blah, I'm Batman and I smell bad."_

"Arrow?"

The Emerald Archer looked up at the Dark Knight, badly hiding the smile on his face.

"Yes?" he managed, his constant giggling reminding him of Beavis and Butthead.

Flash would have understood the reference, if he was here.

"Did I say something to amuse you?"

"…no… well, not _you _per se… but, y'know, someone similar…"

At that, Rayner let out a small snort of a laugh, before quickly covering it and closing his book. Obviously the pressure was getting too much for him. Batman turned his attention to him.

"Lantern? Is there anything you'd like to say?"

"Uh… not at this juncture, no..."

Both Ollie and Rayner tried to avoid looking at each other, because if they did, they both knew they would lose control completely. Arrow looked around the table, and saw Diana and Dinah looking at them with tired looks on their faces, while Superman and J'onn tried to look disapproving while secretly wanting to know what was so funny.

"Maybe I should take a look at your booklet, Lantern," the Dark Knight asked.

Rayner stopped laughing. "That's really not necessary."

"I insist," Batman said, coming forward to take the booklet.

"It's uh, really, _really _not needed. Really. It's, uh… it's fine."

"If that's right, then you two can both _stop giggling_ like schoolgirls and concentrate."

Diana stifled a yawn. "Besides, we're nearly done. You can laugh at Lantern's silly little drawing of Batman later." She smiled innocently and put a hand over her mouth. "Oops. Did I say that out loud?"

Batman glared at the two laughing culprits, who had since shut up and taken to concentrating on their boots. Hard.

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John tried to concentrate on the magazine, but no matter how many times he tried, he couldn't seem to get past the second sentence. He just kept reading the same part over and over. Mari had gone out on a photo shoot. She was taking part in less and less League work. She had even told him she was considering becoming a reserve member, especially after what happened with the Shadow Thief.

"_Unsightly bruises and cuts do not a supermodel make,"_ she had said.

Wally and Shayera were still on vacation, though they were reportedly on their way back, according to Superman. He missed Wally's daily visits, even though they both knew the speedster had countless other things to attend to.

That left very few people to visit him. Batman had done his customary 'I'm-checking-up-on-you-once-a-week-but-it's-only-for-the-good-of-the-team-though-you-know-I'm-secretly-doing-it-because-I'm-worried' visit, and both Superman and Wonder Woman had come to see him at different points during the previous week. J'onn had stopped by for the better half of an afternoon a few days before, which had been surprisingly pleasant for the most part.

The Head of Maintenance for the Metro Tower (he was an old Janitor from the Watchtower) came in to check on the lighting at one point, saying something about wanting to see it with his own two hands. John would have tried to convince him to stay and talk for awhile if he hadn't looked so busy. He did give him a supportive smile before he left, however, which made John feel at least a little better.

It was incredibly frustrating. He couldn't even walk to the bathroom; he had to carefully wrestle himself into a wheelchair before he could even do that.

His physiotherapist wasn't exactly helping, either. She was much too peppy for his liking. Not that he minded peppy. Peppy was fine.

In small doses.

But he was spending a large percentage of time with the woman, and now he wanted nothing more than to create a cannon with his ring and fire her into space, squeaky voice and all.

John wondered how Rayner was doing filling in his position. The kid had always found it difficult to concentrate during training (or so Katma had told him), which, considering his history as a comic book artist, didn't surprise John in the least. It was meeting Rayner that probably helped him deal with Wally a _little _better than he usually would have.

Not much, mind, but it did help a little. The door to the med bay slid open, and the current bane of his existence stepped through.

"Heya, Johnny! How are you today?"

_Deep breaths, Stewart. Deep breaths._

"I'm doing fine, Jane. How are you?"

_Bad move, Stewart._

"It's funny you should say that, because a friend of mine called Michael came up to me today and seemed to be really angry about something, so I asked him…"

John sighed and tried to block her out as he managed to slowly make his way into the wheelchair beside his bed.

"…my cat hasn't been feeling too good, and…"

Where in a physiotherapists' job description did it say to drive the patient insane?

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This was insane.

Completely and utterly insane.

Kyle Rayner had been around the universe. He had fought slimy, slobbering, supremely ugly alien monsters that killed you by sneezing acidic snot on you. He had worked with an alien with no mouth and one eye. He had worked with a giant pink alien who ate anything you shoved under his nose (although admittedly, Kyle had particular fun with that).

But never, never, _never_, had he been forced to battle a giant toy robot.

A giant toy robot that seemed like something out of some twisted fairytale that probably wasn't suitable for anyone under the age of eighteen.

A red laser blast aimed at him knocked him out of his inward ramblings, and Rayner quickly formed a green bubble around himself. The laser engulfed the bubble and broke through, tossing him back down the street and on to the roof of a parked SUV.

The robot continued forward, seemingly going to finish the job, when three thin projectiles exploded on its flat chest. It stumbled back and turned its domed head towards the source of the attack, finding Green Arrow knelt on the rooftop of a nearby building.

At a speed much too fast for something of its bulk, the robot swung its arm around, going straight through the building at a point just below the roof. The ground gave way beneath Arrow. With his footing his lost, he desperately scrambled to get onto the rooftop before it caved in. The robot slammed another fist into the side of the building, knocking the Emerald Archer off balance again and plummeting down to the sidewalk below.

Moving as quickly as he could, Ollie pulled out a grappler arrow and pointed it up at the building ledge. Before he could fire, he felt his descent slow suddenly, and looked around to find himself in the arms of Black Canary. She landed on the ground and let him stand on his own two feet.

"Next time, be more careful!" she yelled before running after the robot.

Arrow scowled and gave her a quick salute before following after her.

Dinah had positioned herself in the middle of the road directly in the path of the robot. Seeing her, it brought back its huge arm to strike down at her.

The sudden sound of a chainsaw assaulted their ears, and Arrow looked up to see Kyle Rayner floating above them, two gigantic emerald chainsaws hovering with him. With a swing of his arm, the chainsaws came hurtling down and cleanly sliced off both of the robot's arms, sending them to the ground with a thundering crash.

Its options exhausted, the robot lifted up its lumbering, boxy foot, opting to simply stamp on Ollie and Dinah.

Canary took a deep breath and unleashed her sonic scream. Quickly losing its balance, the robot tipped backwards and fell to the street below, making some of the lighter cars jump slightly as it hit.

Wasting no time, Arrow jumped up on top of the robot and ran for the head, what he perceived to be the cockpit. He pulled out an electric arrow as he made his way there. He kicked the hatch on top of the head open, but only found an empty seat surrounded by control panels.

He cocked an eyebrow in confusion behind his domino mask, but then almost fell over when the robot began to come to life again.

It was trying to get to its feet.

Arrow ignored Dinah's yell of warning and aimed his electric arrow at the various bleeping and flashing components in the cockpit. He fired, and the entire control panel began to beep incessantly before shutting down, surges of electricity and sparks dancing across its surface. The robot crashed back to the ground.

He hopped down onto the road as Lantern landed beside him. Canary ran over to him. Even though it wasn't aimed at him, the look of anger on her face made Rayner back up.

"What did you think you were doing? That thing could have crushed you!"

"I stopped it, didn't I?"

"That's not the point, Ollie! You're not Superman! You can't take that kind of punishment! You could have let Lantern take care of it!"

If anyone else had been doing the yelling, Rayner would have mumbled a sarcastic 'Gee, thanks'. As it was, he was just glad he wasn't on the receiving end. Feeling incredibly awkward at this lover's quarrel, Rayner tried to change the subject.

"Uh, hey… where did this thing come from, anyway?"

The two whipped their heads around to the look at him, and the expressions of both softened slightly.

"Superman called while Robin Hood here was on top of the robot. He said it was Toyman using a homing beacon. Which was _why _I was yelling at you!" she yelled, turning back to Arrow.

He scowled. "Well how was I supposed to know? You weren't exactly clear on the subject!"

"If you'd just listened-"

Rayner raised a hand like a kid in class. "Uh-"

They once again whipped their heads around to look at Rayner. He backed up slightly. "I'm… just gonna take off. I'll tell J'onn you're… coming later."

Canary shook her head. "No, no. We're done here, anyway." She shot a look at Arrow. "Right?"

"Yes, your majesty," he grumbled, bowing gracefully.

Rayner couldn't take off fast enough.

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Sitting down was a slow process. Especially after the kind of martial arts training that Batman subscribed to.

"_Go ahead, Kyle," _Superman had said.

"_It'll be fun, Kyle," _Superman had said.

"_A piece of cake, Kyle," _Superman had said.

_Piece of cake, my severely bruised ass._

"Hey, kid."

Rayner looked up and saw Green Arrow sitting down next to him, though his attention really wasn't on the Lantern. He was staring across the room at someone, and Rayner didn't need to turn to guess who.

"Hi. How're you holding up?"

"Huh? Oh, fine, fine." He paused for a moment before inserting a carrot stick into his mouth. "Do you know how some things just don't mix?"

Kyle paused.

_O…kay. _

"Uh… yeah…"

In the carrot stick went. "And you know how there are some things that if you _do _mix them, they just end up turning into something _bad?_"

Kyle took a breath. "How do you mean?"

"I mean…" he swallowed. "Women and power."

"Uh huh…"

Another carrot stick. Although this time, it was used as a gesturing device. "It's a bad thing. Women in power are dangerous. They don't just accept that they were right for the job, and that's that. No, oh no… they think they were chosen because of some divine right."

"…okay…"

He was still gesturing with the carrot stick. "It goes to their heads. They think they're above _eeeveryone _else. Doesn't matter if a certain someone else was chosen right along with them, no… that's immaterial. 'That's stupid, Ollie'. 'Stop beingan idiot, Ollie'. 'Honestly, Ollie'."

The carrot stick was shoved in his mouth with more animosity than Kyle had ever seen directed at a vegetable.

"Uh… maybe you should talk to _her _about this."

Arrow stopped in mid crunch. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… uh… y'know… Black Canary…"

"What about her?"

"That's… who you were talking about, right?"

The archer swallowed his carrot stick. "You just assume because I'm talking about someone bossy, overbearing and controlling that I'm talking about Black Canary?"

"W- No… Pffft… no… I didn't mean _that_… I, uh… well… _weren't_ you?"

"…What?"

"Talking about Black Canary?"

"Don't get off the point."

"And… what is the point?"

"That…" Ollie frowned. "That women and power don't mix," he finished, not sounding too sure of himself.

Getting up much faster than his bruises would have liked, Rayner made his way over to the trash dispenser next to the doorway.

"Uh… see you later."

"Right, right…" the archer said, keeping his eyes on his target on the other side of the room as yet another carrot stick was navigated into his mouth.

The Green Lantern of sector 2814 sighed and left the commissary, silently mourning the loss of a particularly tasty looking burger.

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The lights were dimmed in the infirmary. It was actually quite soothing. It reminded Rayner of camping missions on Oa with Kilowog. There was little noise in the room.

"Rayner?" a groggy voice enquired. Kyle paused.

"Sorry. I didn't realise you were asleep. I'll just, uh…"

"No, no. I could use the company," John said, sitting up in his bed and switching on the lamp on the bedside table.

Kyle slowly took a seat next to the bed. It was strange, talking to John with his face half encased in shadow. It was like talking to a bedridden relative. Kyle was so used to being intimidated by the far more experienced Green Lantern. John could do things with his ring that Kyle couldn't even comprehend when he first started. Hell, even now that was true.

"How're you finding things?"

"It's… different than the Corps. Everything just seems so…"

"Relaxed?"

He nodded. "A bit too much. It's nice, but kind of scary at the same time."

"I know just what you mean."

Rayner looked up at the more experienced Lantern. "And you? How are you finding… this?" he said, gesturing to the room around them.

"Worse than solitary. At least with solitary you've got no idea what's going on in the outside world. Everyone keeps on giving me little hints at what I've been missing." He sighed, and repositioned his head on his pillow. "I would very much like to be better now."

"…sorry."

A small laugh escaped John's lips. "For what? It's not your fault."

"Still. I'm sorry. Of all the people it could have happened to, eh?"

"Yeah," he sighed, reaching up with both hands and rubbing his eyes. "How're things on Oa?"

Kyle leant back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. "Um… Kilowog's not training anymore. He's back on the beat."

John grinned. "He always said he would get out of being an instructor. Who's taking his place?"

Kyle just cleared his throat.

"Really? Well done."

"Uh… thanks."

"No, seriously. To be a trainer is hard enough, but to get there as quick as you have… and for someone so young… well… that's very impressive."

Kyle just smiled. "Thanks."

"… How about Katma? How's she doing?"

"Oh, she's doing great. Actually, just before I left, there was this big throw down between the Rigelians and Triskelians, and obviously, Katma wasn't really interested in the peaceful solution, so…"

John levered himself up so he was sitting more comfortably.

Being out of action had its perks, after all.

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(A/N: Yes, the title is from _Superfriends. _I heard a theory the other day that _Superfriends _was actually a dream the JLU Flash was having, and just thought I should put something in the story.

The Head of Maintenance who came in to fix the lighting is the main character from Constane Eilonwy's excellent _I, Janitor_ stories. Just a little bit of fun on my part.

I would just like to emphasise that I don't, repeat, DON'T, share John and Ollie's opinions on comic book artists and women in power, respectively. It's _their _opinion, not mine. ; )

Getting close to the end now, folks; next chapter will probably be the last.

Any who, review!)


	9. Coming Home

Disclaimer: I don't own _Justice League Unlimited._

_**Send Me on My Way**_

_**Chapter Nine: Coming Home**_

Bruce tapped away on the control panel, diligently entering details from the _many _reports he had been given that week. A ghost of a frown appeared when he tried to read Kyle Rayner's handwriting. It boggled the mind how someone with such atrocious form could be an artist.

He continued to work.

Suddenly, he stopped.

Something was happening. Bruce didn't like to think about supernatural things like premonition, but _something _was definitely coming. He could feel it in his bones.

"Hi, Bats!"

The Dark Knight froze, and slowly turned his head to his right. There, just out of the corner of his eye, was a familiar red cowl, the grin beneath it even more familiar. Flash's face was far too close to his.

"You miss me?" he asked, his voice full of cheer.

He went back to his work. "No."

"Aw, come on. I know you missed me. GA missed me."

"And?"

"Well… ah, never mind. What'cha doin'?"

"Inputting reports. Something that you, if I remember correctly, don't."

A finger of protest rose, and then fell again. He put his hands behind his back and shrugged. "I guess."

Batman continued to work.

Flash still hadn't left. He turned to look at him.

"Anything I can help you with?"

"Uh… yeah… I was just wondering if you knew that… uh… it was my, uh… you know…"

Bruce gave him a blank look.

"That is… uh…" he sighed. "Never mind. Where's GL?"

"Still in the med bay."

"How's he doing?"

"I'm busy. Ask him yourself."

Bruce had become quite adept at knowing when someone was making a face behind him. He seemed to inspire that kind of reaction in a lot of people. This one was definitely a scowl.

"Yeah. See you later."

A gust of wind later, the Flash was gone.

After a brief pause, Bruce got back to his work.

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Flash was doing what Ralph called his 'I'm happy' strut. It was the same walk he had used when he had first heard about the Flash Museum. It was the same walk he had used when Fire had agreed to go out on a date with him. It was the same walk he had used when Linda had agreed to go out on a date with him.

But this walk was because he was happy to be home. He waved to Atom Smasher as he passed him in the hall. He gave Static and Gear a double high five each. He even accepted a hug from the Creeper, but regretted it the next day because he wasn't able to get the smell of cheese and pickles out of his costume.

He stuck his head into the commissary and happily greeted Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E. He stole some of Atom and Hawkman's fries and ran away laughing when Vigilante threatened to smack him upside the head if he came anywhere near his steak.

Things were back to normal.

Kyle Rayner walked by, engrossed in an arts and crafts magazine as he headed for the commissary.

Well, maybe not _completely _normal.

He shot off to the med bay.

John was sleeping when he arrived. Or at least, he appeared to be sleeping.

Not that it mattered.

He snuck towards the door and let it slide open before tip toeing in and getting as close as he could to John without waking him up.

"HEY GL!"

With a yelp far too high pitched for someone as big as he was, John all but leapt out of his bed. He thumped his chest with his hand when he saw who it was.

"God, Wally!" he yelled, all worries about secret identities forgotten.

Not that Flash was that bothered. There wasn't anyone in the room, and the only people who heard the audio from security footage were Mr Terrific and the original seven.

The speedster flopped into the chair next to John's bed.

"Didja miss me?"

"Like a rash."

Wally grinned. "'Course ya did. So," he continued, plucking a banana from the fruit basket on John's bedside table. "What've you been up to while I've been off gallivanting?"

"Not much."

Flash stopped himself in mid-peel. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"No you're not. Your left eyebrow twitches when you're lying."

"No it doesn't."

Wally finished peeling and took a bite from the banana. "Uh huh. That's how I know when you're bluffing in poker."

"My eyebrow does _not-_" he put his hand over his eyebrow when he saw Wally staring at it amusedly. "My eyebrow does not twitch when I lie."

Flash grinned. "So you _were _lying."

"No! I-" a low grumble emerged from his throat.

"Oh. My mistake. It twitches when you're angry. See? Wow, look at it go." Flash finished the banana and expertly tossed the skin into the trash can on the other side of the room. He moved on to an apple.

"Do you mind?" John asked irritably.

"Huh? Oh, sorry."

Wally tossed him an apple.

"No, I-" he sighed and let his head hang in defeat.

"So," the speedster asked, taking a crunchy bite from the apple. "What's eating you?"

John put his apple back on the bedside table. "Besides you, you mean?"

"Oh, now that hurt."

He crossed his arms. "It's nothing."

Flash grinned. "Oh, now c'mon… anything you tell Doctor Flash stays between you and Doctor Flash."

"No, Flash, when I saw it's nothing, I mean it's noth-"

The door slid open, and John's expression became one of abject terror.

"Heya, Johnny!"

Flash's eyes widened as he almost choked on his apple.

"Oh! Do we have a visitor today?"

John closed his eyes. Why him? What great evil had he performed to deserve this humiliation?

"Yes."

She grinned and stuck her hand out to Flash. "Hi! I'm Jane, Johnny's physical therapist."

Wally, amused beyond words and with a mouthful of apple, gently shook her hand. "Charmed."

John groaned and rubbed his eyes.

"Is something wrong, Johnny? Feeling sore again?"

He quickly put up his hands. "No! No, I'm… I'm fine for today."

Jane didn't seem to like this answer. "Well…" her face brightened considerably. "Since you've got a visitor, I think I'll let it go for now. I'll be back in an hour, okay?"

Before he even had a chance to nod, she had turned and trotted out.

Flash watched her go, grinning from ear to ear. He didn't say anything; he just chewed on his apple slowly. Gradually, he turned his head to look at John.

"Well. She's certainly very… happy."

John crossed his arms. "Shut up, Wally."

"Are you all right, Johnny? Are you feeling sore?"

The Green Lantern of sector 2814 muttered a string of alien curses as he grabbed an apple from the fruit basket and took an angry bite.

Still grinning, Flash looked over at the note attached to the fruit basket.

_Love, Mari._

He swallowed some apple. "So, uh… where's Vixen?"

"Out on a photo shoot."

"Doing a lot of them lately."

"…and?"

"Nothing, it's just… interesting, is all."

"Why?"

"I dunno! Just… is, okay?"

John took another bite of his apple and came across a particularly sour patch. With a grimace he tossed it across the room into the trash can. Wally looked from the trash can to John's bed and back again.

"Isn't that kind of… annoying?"

"What?"

"The trash can on the other side of the room. It's like someone with a bad sense of humour put it there."

"I put it there."

"…oh. Why?"

"I needed something to do, so I asked one of the doctors to put it there."

Wally nodded. He picked up a well-read and dog-eared magazine from the floor and tore out a page, crumpling it up.

"Best three out of five?"

John made his own crumpled ball of paper. "You're on."

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The door opened, and Shayera looked up, along with about ten other people sat in the waiting room. The man stood in the doorway looked down at his clipboard, checking between two pieces of paper. He looked up.

"Rudolph West?"

She nodded and stood up. Some people looked at her enviously, others with a small element of reluctance.

Shayera walked through, wondering why she was suddenly feeling so nervous. It wasn't like she hadn't been in this place (or places like it) before.

But then again, she had always been in these places as Hawkgirl of the Justice League, not Shayera Hol, Wally West's friend.

"Over there," he said, pointing to one of the open backed booths. She nodded again and made her way over, carefully sitting down. Someone's chair groaned loudly as it was scraped across the floor. She nearly leapt out of her skin.

God, she was jumpy.

She tried to ignore what the other people here were talking about, hoping to respect their privacy. Hell, she just hoped that half the people on the other side of plastic glass didn't recognise her as one of the people who put them there in the first place.

A door opened on the other side and he stepped through, his thinning moustache bristling slightly. He obviously didn't expect or want visitors.

Shayera instantly recognised him as Wally's father. He had the same shaped face, though his mouth seemed more suited for a scowl than a grin. His orange suit highlighted his dull brown hair that looked much the same as Wally's mothers'. Shayera wondered where Flash's flaming crop of hair came from.

He sat down and leaned back in his chair in a motion all too familiar. He looked her up and down with tired brown eyes. She picked up the phone from her side and waited for him to do the same.

He just continued to stare at her, trying to figure out if he knew her.

His eyes weren't anything like Wally's. Aside from the obvious colour difference, they looked at her in a different way. They seemed to be constantly judging rather than observing. His hand slothfully came up and he brought the phone to his ear.

"_Do I know you?"_

"…no."

"_Then what the hell are we doing?"_

"I'm a friend of your sons'."

He cocked a brown eyebrow. _"Girlfriend?"_

"No."

A small chuckle escaped his lips. _"Didn't think so."_

Shayera tried to ignore the comment.

"_Any reason you're coming to see me?"_

She thought for a moment. "Curiosity, I suppose."

"_Seeing a resemblance?"_

"No."

"_Good."_

The old 'Hawkgirl smash' temper flared up, but she held it down. "Have you talked to Wally recently?"

"_Why? Is he missing?"_

"No… I'm just asking about your son."

He shrugged. _"He hasn't been here, no."_

"Ever?"

"_We don't really get along."_

"…do you wonder why that is?"

"_What is this, a psych session? I get enough of this stuff from my shrink."_

"You see a psychiatrist?"

"_Oh, yeah. We're all crazy in here."_

"Why are you in here?"

He paused and studied her face once again. _"You're one of his 'work' friends, aren't you?"_

"…yes."

"_Thought so. You don't look too comfortable sitting around with the other normal people in here."_

"Is that prejudice I hear?"

"_What do you want?"_

"Wally refuses to talk about you. I wanted to know why."

"_You get the picture yet?"_

"I'm getting there."

"_Well, let me paint the whole canvas for you. My son hates me."_

Shayera didn't reply.

"_Well?"_

"I don't think Wally hates you."

"_I think I know my own son."_

"No, you don't. Not really."

"_Look. I haven't seen him since he was sixteen. He's what, in his twenties now?"_

She ground her teeth. "Something like that."

"_Right. So do you really think he didn't come to visit me in five years or so because he's too busy?"_

She didn't say anything. There wasn't really anything to say.

"Why are you in here?"

"_Can't you look that up on your fancy database?"_

"Yes. But I'd rather ask you."

He wasn't expecting that. Something changed in his expression.

"_I tried to kill my wife."_

"…why?"

"_Because I was bored. Does it matter?"_

"I'd say it does, yes."

He sighed. _"It doesn't matter now."_

Shayera nodded. She had run out of things to ask, and Wally would start wondering where she was and ask around. Someone might let it slip.

"Thanks for your time."

He just nodded in return, and she started to put the phone down. He knocked on the glass before the receiver reached the base. She lifted the phone to her ear.

He paused.

"_Tell Wally I said happy birthday."_

He put down the phone, got up, and left.

Shayera stood in silence for a moment before putting down the phone and heading for the Metro Tower.

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"I knew I'd beat him."

"Uh-huh."

"You thought I'd get flattened, but I beat him."

"Uh-huh…"

"I believe your exact words were 'he'll make you a Flash pizza'. Isn't that right?"

"Uh-huh…"

"And yet, here we are."

"Uh-huh…"

"I pulled out the old 'triple fireball' technique and fried him."

Booster crossed his arms huffily. "May I remind you that the only reason you can actually pull off that attack is because of your super speed?"

"Your point being?"

"It's cheating."

"No, it's not."

"Yes it is."

"No it-"

His earpiece bleeped. "Yeah? Uh huh… coming." He brought his attention back to Booster. "Sorry, we'll have to talk about this later. Ralph wants a game of Brawlin' Bots."

"Uh, yeah. See-"

Flash whooshed away.

"-ya."

Skeets floated up alongside Booster. "Do we now make our way to the surprise party, sir?"

He grinned. "Yes we do, Skeets. Yes we do."

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The surprise hadn't gone well. Flash had come into the darkened rec room at super speed, bashing his shoulder on the door that wouldn't open fast enough and tripping over a chair before flying head first into the cake.

However, Clark's speed helped rescue Wally from a sticky (if tasty) fate.

And now the speedster was in the middle of the makeshift dance floor, strutting his (not altogether bad) stuff.

John had come to the party, though he had to spend all of his time sat at a table. It didn't seem to be a problem for him, although he did seem to be nodding off a few times before Wally threw a hastily made water balloon at him. It missed, but it made him wary of any more attacks, and thus stopped him from falling asleep.

The Titans came an hour late (something about Cyborg's baby needing him), but were greeted with cheers upon their arrival.

Superman stayed back for most of the party, not exactly the dancing 'party guy' type. He was just happy to see everyone happy for once.

"Hey, Supes?"

Clark looked over at Flash, who had his arm around a teenager who, for all intents and purposes, looked like a miniature Wally.

"I'd like you to meet Kid Flash."

Superman smiled and extended his hand. "Good to meet you. Flash talks about you quite a bit."

"Uh… heh… snuh…"

Recognising 'hero worship paralysis' when he saw it, Wally took his wards' hand and guided it to Superman's. Trying not to look too amused, Clark shook it gently.

The other younger Titans yelled out his name, and Kid Flash shot off to join his team-mates.

Clark looked over at Wally. "How long have you been waiting to do that?"

"Too long." Flash frowned. "Have you, uh… seen Shayera?"

"She had to run an errand. She said she'd be back in time for the party," he said, sounding slightly curious himself.

After looking worried for another millisecond, Wally quickly snapped back to 'happy birthday' mode. "So. What'd you get me?"

"Um… the party."

His face fell. "Oh. I just that you'd have…"

Guilt welled up on Clark's face.

"…and I just thought that… since we've been team-mates for so long… how could you!"

The guilt vanished, and Clark shook his head, silently berating himself for falling for the trick. Wally grinned and slapped him on the back.

"I'm just kidding. Seriously, Supes, you did a good job. Ever thought of a career in this sort of thing?"

"'Superman: The Wedding Planner'. I don't think it _quite _works, but I could manage it."

"Why, Supes, I think that was a joke. You see what wonders spending time away from Bats does for your sense of humour?"

Clark smiled and glanced over Wally's shoulder. The speedster froze and slowly turned around.

"Oh. Heh. Hey, Bats."

He didn't reply. Silently, he reached under his cloak and pulled out a box wrapped in red and gold paper, a purple bow neatly tied at the top. Wally slowly took it, as though expecting it to go off.

"Uh… thanks…" he said slowly, the amazement in his voice clear. Wally looked over at Superman, who had since been pulled into a 'conversation' between Green Arrow and Black Canary, being forced to pick a side. Flash grinned and turned back to look at the Dark Knight, but found him gone.

"I'm the fastest man alive, and even I can't do that…" he murmured, looking down at the present. He quickly ripped it open and took off the lid of the cardboard box. Inside, he found a golden ring with the Flash emblem engraved on the top. A small note was delicately attached by a piece of string.

_Stronger liquid polymer based costume. If you want more, talk to the Atom._

A small Bat symbol was used in lieu of a signature. The mental image of Batman sat in the cave scribbling in a Bat symbol with his tongue sticking out Charlie Brown style made Wally smile. The idea of the Batman saying 'Good Grief' made his smile grow.

"What's that?" a familiar voice asked, and Wally looked over at Shayera.

He smiled as he looked down at the ring. "It's a present from Bats."

"Batman gave you a present?"

A shrug was the only answer he could give. He put the ring on his finger, and winked at Shayera. "The wedding's in a few months."

She put up her hand with a look of mild disgust on her face. "Please. _That _mental image, I don't need."

"So where'd you run off to?"

"I… had to take care of something."

"Don't give me that. You were buying me a present, weren't you?"

"…you got me."

"Seriously, Shayera, you didn't have to. I mean, your company on the trip was enough. Now where's that present?"

"I'll just… go get it."

Shayera turned around and went for the door, hoping she could improvise something quickly. A hand on her shoulder made her stop before she could reach the door. She turned and saw Hawkman stood before him, looking around as though he were a drug dealer.

She sighed. "Um, I don't really have time to talk-"

He surreptitiously gave her a neatly wrapped present, keeping his eyes on the rest of the room the entire time.

"Oh, I couldn't-"

"No time to argue. You take this, and I'll take him out to his favourite all you can eat restaurant."

"You're sure?"

To emphasise the point, he gently shoved the box into her bare stomach.

"…thank you."

A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. "Remember this the next time I ask to trade shifts."

He turned away and melted into the crowd. After a smile and a shake of her head, she made her way over to Wally, who was talking to Starfire, and gave him the present. Like a greedy child, he snatched up the present and ripped away the wrapping. He grinned as he saw the present.

"A J'onn J'onnz T-shirt! Oh, how did you know?"

She shrugged. "Just a feeling."

In an instant, he was wearing it over his Flash uniform. "You think he'll like it?"

"He'll… appreciate the sentiment."

He grinned and turned to Starfire. "What do you think?"

A look of great reluctance crossed Starfire's face. "It is… um…" she saw Cyborg walk by talking to Elongated Man. "What is that, Cyborg? You wish to speak to me? Of course!" With an apologetic look at Wally she quickly made her way over to the confused teen superhero.

Wally, oblivious to any negative reaction, headed into the dance floor. Shayera looked around the room and spotted John sat by himself, looking slightly paranoid about something. She walked over and sat down next to him.

"Hi."

For a (very) brief moment, he looked surprised. "Hey. Enjoy your vacation?"

"Well, it was a vacation with _Flash_, so everything's relative. But… yeah, it was nice."

"Good." He looked down into his plastic cup of juice. "Y'know… I always thought I'd be the one to end up going on some crazy road trip with him. Strange how things work out."

"Nothing to stop you from going with him some other time."

"Oh, hell no. I'm not that crazy."

"Thanks."

They both smiled.

They looked at each other.

The smiles faded.

"So where'd you go?" he asked quietly, almost too quietly to be heard over the music.

"I went to get a present for Flash."

"You mean the one Hawkman gave to you?" At her surprised look, he smiled and shrugged.

For one of the few times that John had known her, Shayera seemed to shrink a little in size.

"I went to see his father."

"Who's? Wally's?"

She nodded.

He was a silent for a moment. "And?"

"_And_… I don't understand how someone like that," she said, pointing at Wally as he danced and laughed and smiled, "could come from the kind of people his parents are."

"Not everything's dictated by who a person's raised by. Some of the nastiest people we know had perfectly happy and nice upbringings."

"True." She paused. "Raven – from the Teen Titans – thinks it's because of his friends."

John nodded. "My dad always used to say that the best judge of a man is by the company he keeps."

Shayera smiled, only now taking in just how many people had shown up for the party. For Wally's party.

"And he has chosen some good company."

"Yeah," John said, hoping that Shayera didn't notice how he was looking at her. "He has."

She did.

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The party had fizzled out rather nicely as the clock reached the 2AM mark. If she was honest, Shayera was expecting the party to end with some kind of bang, either from Wally's machinations or someone like Beast Boy or Booster Gold. But the party had remained just that; a party. They had sung happy birthday before Wally blew out the candles, handed over presents both humorous (a coffee mug in the shape of Batman's head from Superman) and personal (a picture of some of the original seven from Static and Gear – John hadn't realised until seeing the photo that Wally had put two fingers up behind his head).

And now, everybody was on their way out. An incoherent Booster Gold was being helped out by Blue Beetle and Plastic Man. Superman was nodding in forced interest at something a slightly tipsy Beast Boy and Cyborg were telling him as they left.

Shayera looked around the room and found that Wally and Ralph were the only two people left in the room, sat on either end of a table. Ralph's back obscured whatever the two were doing, but Shayera knew what it was from experience.

Not to mention the familiar clacking of the small plastic robots the two heroes were controlling.

Shayera rolled her eyes. Supposedly, they were two grown men.

Ralph suddenly let out a yell of frustration while Wally just grinned. There was an exchange of words that Shayera couldn't quite hear, although she did hear Ralph mutter 'Happy Birthday' before he stumbled away from the table. He gave her a nod and almost fell over in the process, but managed to stay on his two feet as he stretched out of the room.

Shayera took the seat opposite Wally, who was concentrating on the robots in front of him, pushing the red robot's head back into place. He looked up at her.

"You want a game?"

"I don't know how."

"Simple. You push the two buttons until you bop the other guy's block off."

She seemed reluctant.

"Come on. It's just like what you do on the job, except, y'know. Without the mace."

Relenting, Shayera slid onto the stool opposite Wally. She grasped the two joysticks.

Wally nodded. "Okay… go!"

They frantically pushed the buttons, each twisting and turning their robots from side to side in an attempt to reach the others' head.

"So… did you enjoy your vacation with yours truly?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the game.

Shayera gave him a quick glance. "Aside from the annoying parts… yeah, it was good."

"What annoying parts?"

"You, mostly."

"Oh. Well I do that anyway."

She smiled. "I suppose so."

And with that, she bopped his block off. Wally seemed quite horrified.

"Uh… that's not fair, the red guy's arms are longer."

"No they're not."

He nodded quickly. "Yuh-huh. Ralph says so."

"I don't care what Ralph says. I can see with my own two eyes. If anything, the _green _guy's arms are longer."

"They… they are _not._"

She grinned. "I just beat you good, didn't I?"

"I… I'm just tired. If I was awake, I would have _so _kicked your ass."

"Right."

"I would!"

She sighed and shook her head. "Come on, let's go."

They both stood up and made their way out. Wally scratched his head as he surveyed the damage.

"Boy… the Head of Maintenance guy's gonna have a fit."

She shrugged. "He'll be okay with it. Some of it was done by him, anyway."

Wally grinned. "Oh, yeah…"

They stopped at the door leading into the corridor.

"So," Wally said slowly, wishing he had pockets in his Flash costume. "I guess we're going in different directions, huh?"

"Yeah."

"I'll uh… see you in a few days, okay?"

"…right."

He turned to go.

"Wally?"

He turned back around to face her all too quickly. She reached out and pulled him into a hug, only just then noticing how much taller he was than her. They both pulled away from the hug slowly, confusion on Wally's features.

"Uh… what was that for?"

She shrugged. "Just… for being you. And a thank you."

He nodded, a slight smile on his lips. "Right. Hey, y'know… since we're celebrating me being me… you can… come stay at my place whenever you want. Y'know, not _now _or anything, but… uh, yeah… y'know, 'cause… yeah."

"Thanks."

"I'll see you next shift."

"Or sooner."

He grinned. "Yeah. Just give me a call. Maybe we could do something with GL."

A red eyebrow arched. "One step at a time."

"Right, right… I'll see you later."

"Later."

The two friends turned and made their way down the corridor, Wally heading for the elevator, and Shayera heading to her room.

And the entire time, she couldn't get rid of the stupid grin on her face. When she reached her room and looked in the mirror, she realised it was almost an exact copy of Wally's grin. She shook her head. She needed to get out more.

A smile spread across her lips.

But not really.

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(A/N: That's all, folks! Thanks to all of you for reading; this really has been a lot of fun to write.

That said, I'd still like to thank the following for reviewing (and boy, is _this_ gonna be a long list):

Dr. Crow: Sorry I didn't get in some of your suggestions, but I really wanted this to be an action free story for the most part (giant robot toys notwithstanding). Thanks for reviewing!

TTSpeed Demon111: Glad to see you enjoyed it! Thanks for reviewing.

Balletangel19: Thanks for the input; seeing as you're a fellow Flash writer yourself, it's much appreciated.

Mist: Thanks for your reviews; they always give me food for thought. Or maybe it's because you like it all.

Lavender Gaia: I just read you first review (about wanting to see a story about Dick, Roy and Wally on vacation), and let me just say… I'm considering it... And I'll get the original five Titans in a story sometime!

Doza: You stories are incredible, so obviously I enjoy any input you have into the story. Hopefully I can return the favour with some reviews of my own (hint, hint).

Caliente: Thanks for reviewing; I hope you enjoyed the rest of the story!

Jerico Cacaw: Y'know, I kept on trying to think of ways to put Wally getting sunburn into the story, but I couldn't get it in anywhere. Maybe if I do a Wally/Dick/Roy vacation story…

Booboaba: I hope you enjoyed the rest of the story!

Kj: Hoped you liked the Nightwing appearance; it was great fun to write, in any case.

Mayberry63: Thanks for reviewing; it's much appreciated.

Lady Jaye1: Considering you're writing _the _funniest JLU story on the net, your reviews were very happily received. Looking forward to more from your stories.

Hhgbh: Of course, thank you for your reviews. They're so constant, they're like a pillar to lean on when I'm checking through the reviews. Hope to see you in my other stories (when I get around to them, that is).

Lil' Pup: Glad you enjoyed, and thanks for reviewing!

ChunkyMunky241: Being the Shayera/Wally nut I know you are, I hope you enjoyed the obscene amount of it there was in this story.

KF fan: Your stories are always well thought out and intelligently written affairs, so reviews from you are more than appreciated.

Kyoko Kasshu Minamino: Thanks for your (very numerous) reviews!

Jemand: Thanks for reviewing, and I hoped you enjoyed the ride!

Riana1: I liked how you noticed the little details like Wally and Ollie talking about laser space suits; when I read over the review, I'd actually forgotten I wrote that bit in. Thanks for the reviews!

flash and shayers matchup f...: Sorry I didn't use your suggestion, but I was really going for more of a friendship vibe than a pairing one. Thanks for the review, anyway!

Larie-Chan: Hoped you enjoyed the story, and thanks for reviewing.

Proponent of EVO: I like reading your stories, and I can only hope you get around to updating them at some point; you've certainly got some interesting ideas going. In any case, thanks for the reviews!

El Varon: Despite your having a name like a supervillain, I'd like to thank you for your reviews!

Trecebo: Thanks for your reviews, and thanks for the PM regarding chapter 5; I fixed it, just check!

I am The Lev: Glad you enjoyed the story, and thanks for reviewing!

Qk: It feels so good for reviewers to hop on board one of my stories from another; hope you enjoyed the rest of the story!

WarrenAngel: Seeing as Wally's pretty much my favourite comics character (with Optimus Prime and Spider-Man), it's very gratifying to see someone say I've got such a good grasp on the character. Thanks for reviewing!

Tiamat1972: Since I'm used to you reviewing my Transformers stories, it's kinda cool to see you jump over on to the Justice League ones, too. I hope you enjoyed it!

Nena Firewind: Thanks for you reviews!

Jagan Lady: Glad I could help you feel at least a little bit better; this story's pretty much a feel good one, so it's nice to see I accomplished part of what I set out to do.

Artemis 85: Thanks for reviewing; I hope you enjoyed the rest of the story!

Nyx – Night Goddess: Although you scare me, I'd like to thank you for your reviews. :P

Illusionwriter: Thanks for reviewing!

Flash's girl: Considering your username, I'm hoping you enjoyed the rest of the story.

Sawyer Fan: They are kind of a couple, aren't they? In any case, I'm glad you enjoyed the story, and thanks for reviewing.

Chanutaya: Well, Wally has gone on record in the comics saying that Dick is like a brother to him, so I really wanted to get a sense of that.

TheWatcherandReader: Glad you enjoyed it!

Rift: I don't know… I enjoyed Wally, Shayera and Dick; it was like some strange kind of family.

Naori Firewind: Glad to see you enjoyed the bar fight. Truth be told, it's one of my favourite parts of the story.

Lucy: Thanks for reviewing. I hope you enjoyed the rest of the story!

God of Static: Good to know I've done well. : ) Thanks for reviewing!

Darklover: To me, characterisations are the most important part of any story; even if the story is kind of iffy, good characters can pull it through. It's why I liked 'Grudge Match'. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

Scarlet Flashernel: I'm pretty aware of the Piper's importance to the Flash's world, there wasn't really anywhere I could put him in, considering that Wally and Shayera were moving _away _from Central City as they travelled. I'll definitely be doing more Flash related stories in the future though, so I'll be sure to put him in on one of those. Thanks for reviewing!

And, of course, thanks to those of you who review this chapter, too!

It's been great, folks. Thanks for reading.)


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